TANdLEWOOD 

*  TAIX3  •* 


HAPfflDCMl 


" 


THESEUS  SLATING  THE   MINOTAUR.     Page  35. 


TANGLEWOOD  TALES 

FOR  GIRLS  AND  BOYS 


BEING  A  SECOND  WONDER-BOOK 


BY 


NATHANIEL    HAWTHORNE 


BY  GEORGE  WHARTON   EDWARDS 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN.  AND   COMPANY 
Ktoerertie  Press,  Cambridge 


Copyright,  1853, 
BY  NATHANIEL   HAWTHORNE. 

Copyright,  1881, 
3*  KOSE   HAWTHORNE  LATHROP, 

Copyright,  1883,  and  1887, 
Br  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   &   CO. 

All  riahts  reserved. 


Tlie  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  II.  0.  Houghton  &  Company. 


STACK 
ANNEX 

PS 


A-  1 


CONTENTS   AND   LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

THESEUS  SLAYING  THE  MINOTAUR Frontispiece. 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  BY  G.  P.  LATHROP. 

Head-piece     ............         1 

THE  WAYSIDE,  Introductory 3 

THE  MINOTAUR. 

Head-piece     ............9 

Theseus  trying  to  lift  the  Rock        ........       15 

"  You  are  but  a  tiny  boy  as  yet,"  replied  his  mother.     "  See  if  you 
can  lift  this  rock  ?  " 

Talus 25 

"  It  is  Talus,  the  Man  of  Brass" 
Theseus  before  King  _<Egeus    .........       33 

"  He  could  scarcely  wait  to  see  whether  King  JEgeus  would  recognize 

him." 
THE  PYGMIES. 

Head-piece  .  .........       38 

The  Giant  and  the  Pygmies 43 

"  He  generally  stopped  laughing,  and  ran  with  mile-long  strides  to 
their  assistance" 

The  Battle  of  the  Giants 51 

"  Hercules  caught  him  round  the  middle  with  both  hands,  lifted  him 

high  into  the  air,  and  held  him  aloft  overhead." 
THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH. 

Head-piece  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .60 

Europa  and  the  Bull        .  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .63 

"  Come  back  pretty  creature,"  she  cried.     "  Here  is  a  nice  clover 

blossom." 
The  Bull  carrying  off  Europa          ........       65 

"  He  took  an  airy  leap,  and  plunged  right  in  among  the  foaming 

billows" 
The  Parting  of  Telephassa  and  Phoenix  .......       71 

"But,  when  they  bade  him  farewell,  Phoenix  shed  tears." 
Cadmus  consulting  the  Oracle  .         .         .         .         .         .         .79 

"Sacred  Oracle  of  Delphi,"  said  he,  "whither  shall  I  go  next  in 

quest  of  my  dear  sister  Europa  ?  " 
Cadmus  throwing  the  Rock     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .87 


iv  CONTENTS  AND  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

"  Cadmus,"  said  the  same  voice,  "  throw  a  stone  into  the  midst  of  the 
armed  men." 

Cadmus  and  Harmonia 91 

"  This  is  Harmonia,  a  daughter  of  the  Sky" 
CIRCE'S   PALACE. 

Head-piece 93 

Ulysses  and  the  Bird        ..........     101 

" Peep"  said  the  bird,  "peep,  peep,  pe-weep" 
Circe  and  the  Swine         ..........     109 

"  Drive  out  these  swine,  and  throw  down  some  acorns  for  them  to 

eat." 
The  Disenchantment  of  King  Picus  .......     121 

"  King  Picus  leaped  down  from  the  bough  of  the  tree" 
THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

Head-piece      ............     123 

King  Pluto  and  Proserpina       .........     127 

"  Do  not  be  afraid,"  said  he,  with  as  cheerful  a  smile  as  he  knew 

how  to  put  on. 
King  Pluto  carrying  off  Proserpina          .......     141 

"  She  was  suddenly  snatched  up  by  King  Pluto,  and  carried  off  to 

his  dominions" 
Proserpina  approaching  her  Mother          .......     152 

"  Then  open  your  arms,  dear  mother"  cried  a  tvell  known  voice. 
THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 
Head-piece      ............     154 

Jason  helping  the  Old  Woman 159 

"  He  gathered  strength  as  he  went  on,  and  struggling  up  against  the 

torrent^  he  at  last  gained  the  opposite  shore" 
Jason  confronts  King  Pelias     .........     165 

"  1  would  send  such  a  man"  said  he,    " in  quest  of  the   Golden 
Fleece" 

Medea  with  the  Magic  Box 179 

"  Are  you  quite  sure  that  the  unguent  in  the  gold  box  will  prove  a 

remedy  against  these  terrible  burns  ?  " 
Jason  in  the  Argo  ...........     187 

"  The  Galley  flew  over  the  water,  homeward  bound,  as  if  careering 
along  with  wings." 


TANGLEWOOD   TALES. 

HAWTHORNE'S  first  "  Wonder-Book  "  was  so  well  received,  that 
he  was  induced  to  undertake  another  within  eighteen  months  from 
the  time  of  finishing  the  first.  To  this  new  volume,  made  up  in 
the  same  way  of  Greek  myths  retold  with  a  modern,  free,  half  real 
istic  and  half  fanciful  tone,  he  gave  the  name  "  Tanglewood  Tales." 
The  previous  series  having  been  ostensibly  narrated  by  one  Eustace 
Bright,  among  the  hills  of  Berkshire,  these  additional  stories  in  the 
like  vein  were  represented  as  having  been  brought  by  Eustace  Bright 
to  Hawthorne,  at  his  new  home,  The  Wayside,  in  Concord. 

This  place  Hawthorne  had  bought  and  moved  into,  early  in  the 
summer  of  1852,  after  finishing  "  The  Blithedale  Romance  "  at 
West  Newton,  during  the  preceding  winter.  Some  slight  references 
to  it  are  made  in  the  Introduction  headed  "  The  Wayside,"  where 
"  my  predecessor's  little  ruined,  rustic  summer-house,  midway  on  the 
hill-side,"  is  mentioned.  The  predecessor  was  Mr.  A.  Bronson 
Alcott,  one  of  the  so-called  Transcendental  school  of  thinkers,  the 
intimate  friend  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  and  the  father  of  Miss 
Louisa  M.  Alcott,  since  become  one  of  the  most  popular  of  writers 
for  children.  This  summer-house,  therefore,  becomes  to  the  mind  a 
sort  of  station  between  the  new  generation  and  the  old,  a  link 
between  Hawthorne  in  his  capacity  of  tale-teller  to  the  little  folks 
of  America,  and  the  woman  who,  at  that  time  a  child,  has  in  later 
years  assembled  from  the  young  people  a  vast  audience  of  her  own. 
The  romancer  speaks  of  this  rustic  structure  in  a  letter  to  George 
William  Curtis,  dated  July  14,  1852 :  — 


2  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

"  Mr.  Alcott  expended  a  good  deal  of  taste  and  some  money  (to 
no  great  purpose)  in  forming  the  hill-side  behind  the  house  into 
terraces,  and  building  arbors  and  summer-houses  of  rough  stems 
and  branches  and  trees,  on  a  system  of  his  own.  They  must  have 
been  very  pretty  in  their  day,  and  are  so  still,  although  much 
decayed,  and  shattered  more  and  more  by  every  breeze  that  blows." 

No  vestige  of  this  sylvan  edifice  now  remains. 

Prior  to  his  return  to  Concord  and  installation  at  The  Wayside, 
Hawthorne  had  contemplated  giving  up  that  humble  abode  at  Lenox, 
which,  in  a  letter  to  George  William  Curtis,  he  had  called  "  the 
ugliest  little  old  red  farm-house  you  ever  saw,"  and  renting  the 
country-seat  of  Mrs.  Fanny  Kemble,  in  the  same  vicinity.  But  as  I 
have  mentioned  in  the  Introductory  Note  prefixed  to  the  "  Wonder- 
Book,"  he  had  already  begun  to  languish  somewhat  in  the  inland 
air  of  the  Berkshire  Valley  ;  added  to  which  was  the  not  altogether 
favorable  influence  of  the  striking  scenery  in  that  picturesque  moun 
tain-district.  In  October,  1851,  he  wrote  from  Lenox  to  a  friend : 
"  We  shall  leave  here  (with  much  joy)  on  the  first  day  of  December." 

The  sojourn  at  West  Newton,  however,  served  only  to  occupy  the 
interval  between  Lenox  and  his  settlement  at  Concord.  After  he 
had  arrived  at  the  latter  place,  he  wrote  to  Horatio  Bridge  (October 
13,  1852) :  "In  a  day  or  two  I  intend  to  begin  a  new  romance, 
which,  if  possible,  I  intend  to  make  more  genial  than  the  last." 
The  "  last "  was  "  The  Blithedale  Romance ; "  but  of  the  newly 
projected  work  here  mentioned  we  find  no  further  trace,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  conjecture  what  scheme  ior  a  fresh  work  of  fiction 
was  then  occupying  the  author's  mind.  The  "  campaign  "  Life  of 
Franklin  Pierce  had  already  been  produced  after  his  coming  to  The 
Wayside,  and  he  was  apparently  free  to  turn  his  attention  to  this 
projected  romance ;  but  instead  of  pursuing  the  design,  whatever  it 
may  have  been,  he  took  up  the  composition  of  the  "  Tangle  wood 
Tales,"  which  were  completed  in  the  early  spring  of  1853.  On  the 
13th  of  March,  that  year,  he  wrote  the  preface  for  them.  Ten  days 
later  his  appointment  to  the  consulate  at  Liverpool  by  President 
Pierce  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

G.  P.  L. 


THE   WAYSIDE. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

A  SHORT  time  ago,  I  was  favored  with  a  flying  visit  from  my 
young  friend  Eustace  Bright,  whom  I  had  not  before  met  with  since 
quitting  the  breezy  mountains  of  Berkshire.  It  being  the  winter 
vacation  at  his  college,  Eustace  was  allowing  himself  a  little  relax 
ation,  in  the  hope,  he  told  me,  of  repairing  the  inroads  which  severe 
application  to  study  had  made  upon  his  health ;  and  I  was  happy  to 
conclude,  from  the  excellent  physical  condition  in  which  I  saw  him, 
that  the  remedy  had  already  been  attended  with  very  desirable 
success.  He  had  now  run  up  from  Boston  by  the  noon  train,  partly 
impelled  by  the  friendly  regard  with  which  he  is  pleased  to  honor 
me,  and  partly,  as  I  soon  found,  on  a  matter  of  literary  business. 

It  delighted  me  to  receive  Mr.  Bright,  for  the  first  time,  under  a 
roof,  though  a  very  humble  one,  which  I  could  really  call  my  own. 
Nor  did  I  fail  (as  is  the  custom  of  landed  proprietors  all  about  the 
world)  to  parade  the  poor  fellow  up  and  down  over  my  half  a  dozen 
acres ;  secretly  rejoicing,  nevertheless,  that  the  disarray  of  the  in 
clement  season,  and  particularly  the  six  inches  of  snow  then  upon 
the  ground,  prevented  him  from  observing  the  ragged  neglect  of 
soil  and  shrubbery  into  which  the  place  has  lapsed.  It  was  idle, 
however,  to  imagine  that  an  airy  guest  from  Monument  Mountain, 
Bald-Summit,  and  old  Graylock,  shaggy  with  primeval  forests,  could 
see  anything  to  admire  in  my  poor  little  hill-side,  with  its  growth  of 
frail  and  insect-eaten  locust-trees.  Eustace  very  frankly  called  the 
view  from  my  hill-top  tame ;  and  so,  no  doubt,  it  was,  after  rough, 
broken,  rugged,  headlong  Berkshire,  and  especially  the  northern 
parts  of  the  county,  with  which  his  college  residence  had  made  him 
familiar.  But  to  me  there  is  a  peculiar,  quiet  charm  in  these  broad 
meadows  and  gentle  eminences.  They  are  better  than  mountains? 
because  they  do  not  stamp  and  stereotype  themselves  into  the  brain, 
and  thus  grow  wearisome  with  the  same  strong  impression,  repeated 


4  THE   WAYSIDE. 

day  after  day.  A  few  summer  weeks  among  mountains,  a  lifetime 
among  green  meadows  and  placid  slopes,  with  outlines  forever  new, 
because  continually  fading  out  of  the  memory,  —  such  would  be  my 
sober  choice. 

I  doubt  whether  Eustace  did  not  internally  pronounce  the  whole 
thing  a  bore,  until  I  led  him  to  my  predecessor's  little  ruined,  rustic 
summer-house,  midway  on  the  hill-side.  It  is  a  mere  skeleton  of 
slender,  decaying  tree-trunks,  with  neither  walls  nor  a  roof ;  noth 
ing  but  a  tracery  of  branches  and  twigs,  which  the  next  wintry  blast 
will  be  very  likely  to  scatter  in  fragments  along  the  terrace.  It 
looks,  and  is,  as  evanescent  as  a  dream ;  and  yet,  in  its  rustic  net 
work  of  boughs,  it  has  somehow  enclosed  a  hint  of  spiritual  beauty, 
and  has  become  a  true  emblem  of  the  subtile  and  ethereal  mind  that 
planned  it.  I  made  Eustace  Bright  sit  down  on  a  snow-bank,  which 
had  heaped  itself  over  the  mossy  seat,  and  gazing  through  the 
arched  window  opposite,  he  acknowledged  that  the  scene  at  once 
grew  picturesque. 

"  Simple  as  it  looks,"  said  he,  "  this  little  edifice  seems  to  be  the 
work  of  magic.  It  is  full  of  suggestiveness,  and,  in  its  way,  is  as 
good  as  a  cathedral.  Ah,  it  would  be  just  the  spot  for  one  to  sit  in, 
of  a  summer  afternoon,  and  tell  the  children  some  more  of  those 
wild  stories  from  the  classic  myths  :  " 

"  It  would,  indeed,"  answered  I.  "  The  summer-house  itself,  so 
airy  and  so  broken,  is  like  one  of  those  old  tales,  imperfectly  remem 
bered  ;  and  these  living  branches  of  the  Baldwin  apple-tree,  thrust 
ing  themselves  so  rudely  in,  are  like  your  unwarrantable  interpola 
tions.  But,  by  the  bye,  have  you  added  any  more  legends  to  the 
series,  since  the  publication  of  the  Wonder-Book  ?  " 

"  Many  more,"  said  Eustace  ;  "  Primrose,  Periwinkle,  and  the  rest 
of  them  allow  me  no  comfort  of  my  life,  unless  I  tell  them  a  story 
every  day  or  two.  I  have  run  away  from  home  partly  to  escape  the 
importunity  of  those  little  wretches !  But  I  have  written  out  six  of 
the  new  stories,  and  have  brought  them  for  you  to  look  over." 

"  Are  they  as  good  as  the  first  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Better  chosen,  and  better  handled,"  replied  Eustace  Bright. 
"  You  will  say  so  when  you  read  them." 

"Possibly  not,"  I  remarked.  "  I  know,  from  my  own  experience, 
that  an  author's  last  work  is  always  his  best  one,  in  his  own  esti- 


THE    WAYSIDE.  5 

mate,  until  it  quite  loses  the  red  heat  of  composition.  After  that, 
it  falls  into  its  true  place,  quietly  enough.  But  let  us  adjourn 
to  my  study,  and  examine  these  new  stories.  It  would  hardly  be 
doing  yourself  justice,  were  you  to  bring  me  acquainted  with  them, 
sitting!'  here  on  this  snow-bank  !  " 

o 

So  we  descended  the  hill  to  my  small,  old  cottage,  and  shut  our 
selves  up  in  the  southeastern  room,  where  the  sunshine  comes  in, 
warmly  and  brightly,  through  the  better  half  of  a  winter's  day. 
Eustace  put  his  bundle  of  manuscript  into  my  hands ;  and  I  skimmed 
through  it  pretty  rapidly,  trying  to  find  out  its  merits  and  demerits 
by  the  touch  of  my  fingers,  as  a  veteran  story-teller  ought  to  know 
how  to  do. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Bright  condescended  to  avail 
himself  of  my  literary  experience  by  constituting  me  editor  of  the 
Wonder-Book.  As  he  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  the  reception 
of  that  erudite  work  by  the  public,  he  was  now  disposed  to  retain 
me  in  a  similar  position,  with  respect  to  the  present  volume,  which 
he  entitled  "  TANGLEWOOD  TALES."  Not,  as  Eustace  hinted,  that 
there  was  any  real  necessity  for  my  services  as  introductor,  inasmuch 
as  his  own  name  had  become  established,  in  some  good  degree  of 
favor,  with  the  literary  world.  But  the  connection  with  myself,  he 
was  kind  enough  to  say,  had  been  highly  agreeable  ;  nor  was  he  by 
any  means  desirous,  as  most  people  are,  of  kicking  away  the  ladder 
that  had  perhaps  helped  him  to  reach  his  present  elevation.  My 
young  friend  was  willing,  in  short,  that  the  fresh  verdure  of  his 
growing  reputation  should  spread  over  my  straggling  and  half -naked 
boughs ;  even  as  I  have  sometimes  thought  of  training  a  vine,  with 
its  broad  leafiness,  and  purple  fruitage,  over  the  worm-eaten  posts 
and  rafters  of  the  rustic  summer-house.  I  was  not  insensible  to  the 
advantages  of  his  proposal,  and  gladly  assured  him  of  my  acceptance. 

Merely  from  the  titles  of  the  stories,  I  saw  at  once  that  the  sub 
jects  were  not  less  rich  than  those  of  the  former  volume ;  nor  did  I 
at  all  doubt  that  Mr.  Bright's  audacity  (so  far  as  that  endowment 
might  avail)  had  enabled  him  to  take  full  advantage  of  whatever 
capabilities  they  offered.  Yet,  in  spite  of  my  experience  of  his  free 
way  of  handling  them,  I  did  not  quite  see,  I  confess,  how  he  could 
have  obviated  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  rendering  them  pre 
sentable  to  children.  These  old  legends,  so  brimming  over  with 


6  THE   WAYSIDE. 

everything  that  is  most  abhorrent  to  our  christianized  moral  sense, 

—  some  of  them  so  hideous,  others  so  melancholy  and  miserable, 
amid  which  the  Greek  tragedians  sought  their  themes,  and  moulded 
them  into  the  sternest  forms  of  grief  that  ever  the  world  saw ;  was 
such  material  the  stuff  that  children's  playthings  should  be  made  of  ! 
How  were  they  to  be  purified  ?     How  was  the  blessed  sunshine  to 
be  thrown  into  them  ? 

But  Eustace  told  me  that  these  myths  were  the  most  singular  things 
in  the  world,  and  that  he  was  invariably  astonished,  whenever  he  be 
gan  to  relate  one,  by  the  readiness  with  which  it  adapted  itself  to 
the  childish  purity  of  his  auditors.  The  objectionable  characteris 
tics  seem  to  be  a  parasitical  growth,  having  no  essential  connection 
with  the  original  fable.  They  fall  away,  and  are  thought  of  no 
more,  the  instant  he  puts  his  imagination  in  sympathy  with  the  in 
nocent  little  circle,  whose  wide-open  eyes  are  fixed  so  eagerly  upon 
him.  Thus  the  stories  (not  by  any  strained  effort  of  the  narrator's, 
but  in  harmony  with  their  inherent  germ)  transform  themselves,  and 
reassume  the  shapes  which  they  might  be  supposed  to  possess  in  the 
pure  childhood  of  the  world.  When  the  first  poet  or  romancer  told 
these  marvellous  legends  (such  is  Eustace  Bright's  opinion),  it  was 
still  the  Golden  Age.  Evil  had  never  yet  existed  ;  and  sorrow,  mis 
fortune,  crime,  were  mere  shadows  which  the  mind  fancifully  created 
for  itself,  as  a  shelter  against  too  sunny  realities ;  or,  at  most,  but 
prophetic  dreams,  to  which  the  dreamer  himself  did  not  yield  a 
waking  credence.  Children  are  now  the  only  representatives  of  the 
men  and  women  of  that  happy  era  ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  we  must 
raise  the  intellect  and  fancy  to  the  level  of  childhood,  in  order  to  re 
create  the  original  myths. 

I  let  the  youthful  author  talk  as  much  and  as  extravagantly  as  he 
pleased,  and  was  glad  to  see  him  commencing  life  with  such  confi 
dence  in  himself  and  his  performances.  A  few  years  will  do  all 
that  is  necessary  towards  showing  him  the  truth  in  both  respects. 
Meanwhile,  it  is  but  right  to  say,  he  does  not  really  appear  to  have 
overcome  the  moral  objections  against  these  fables,  although  at  the 
expense  of  such  liberties  with  their  structure  as  must  be  left  to  plead 
their  own  excuse,  without  any  help  from  me.  Indeed,  except  that 
there  was  a  necessity  for  it,  —  and  that  the  inner  life  of  the  legends 
cannot  be  come  at  save  by  making  them  entirely  one's  own  property, 

—  there  is  no  defence  to  be  made. 


THE    WAYSIDE.  1 

Eustace  informed  me  that  he  had  told  his  stories  to  the  children 
in  various  situations,  —  in  the  woods,  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  in 
the  dell  of  Shadow  Brook,  in  the  play-room,  at  Tanglewood  fireside, 
and  in  a  magnificent  palace  of  snow,  with  ice  windows,  which  he 
helped  his  little  friends  to  build.  His  auditors  were  even  more  de 
lighted  with  the  contents  of  the  present  volume  than  with  the  speci 
mens  which  have  already  been  given  to  the  world.  The  classically 
learned  Mr.  Pringle,  too,  had  listened  to  two  or  three  of  the  tales, 
and  censured  them  even  more  bitterly  than  he  did  THE  THREE 
GOLDEN  APPLES  ;  so  that,  what  with  praise,  and  what  with  criti 
cism,  Eustace  Bright  thinks  that  there  is  good  hope  of  at  least  as 
much  success  with  the  public  as  in  the  case  of  the  Wonder-Book. 

I  made  all  sorts  of  inquiries  about  the  children,  not  doubting  that 
there  would  be  great  eagerness  to  hear  of  their  welfare  among  some 
good  little  folks  who  have  written  to  me,  to  ask  for  another  volume 
of  myths.  They  are  all,  I  am  happy  to  say  (unless  we  except 
Clover),  in  excellent  health  and  spirits.  Primrose  is  now  almost  a 
young  lady,  and,  Eustace  tells  me,  is  just  as  saucy  as  ever.  She 
pretends  to  consider  herself  quite  beyond  the  age  to  be  interested 
by  such  idle  stories  as  these ;  but,  for  all  that,  whenever  a  story  is 
to  be  told,  Primrose  never  fails  to  be  one  of  the  listeners,  and  to 
make  fun  of  it  when  finished.  Periwinkle  is  very  much  grown,  and 
is  expected  to  shut  up  her  baby-house  and  throw  away  her  doll  in  a 
month  or  two  more.  Sweet  Fern  has  learned  to  read  and  write,  and 
has  put  on  a  jacket  and  pair  of  pantaloons,  —  all  of  which  improve 
ments  I  am  sorry  for.  Squash-Blossom,  Blue  Eye,  Plantain,  and 
Buttercup  have  had  the  scarlet  fever,  but  came  easily  through  it. 
Huckleberry,  Milkweed,  and  Dandelion  were  attacked  with  the 
whooping-cough,  but  bore  it  bravely,  and  kept  out  of  doors  when 
ever  the  sun  shone.  Cowslip,  during  the  autumn,  had  either  the 
measles,  or  some  eruption  that  looked  very  much  like  it,  but  was 
hardly  sick  a  day.  Poor  Clover  has  been  a  good  deal  troubled  with 
her  second  teeth,  which  have  made  her  meagre  in  aspect  and  rather 
fractious  in  temper ;  nor,  even  when  she  smiles,  is  the  matter  much 
mended,  since  it  discloses  a  gap  just  within  her  lips,  almost  as  wide 
as  the  barn  door.  But  all  this  will  pass  over,  and  it  is  predicted 
that  she  will  turn  out  a  very  pretty  girl. 

As  for  Mr.  Bright  himself,  he  is  now  in  his  senior  year  at  Wil- 


THE    WAYSIDE. 

Hams  College,  and  has  a  prospect  of  graduating  with  some  degree 
of  honorable  distinction  at  the  next  Commencement.  In  his  oration 
for  the  bachelor's  degree,  he  gives  me  to  understand,  he  will  treat 
of  the  classical  myths,  viewed  in  the  aspect  of  baby  stories,  and  has 
a  great  mind  to  discuss  the  expediency  of  using  up  the  whole  of  an 
cient  history  for  the  same  purpose.  I  do  not  know  what  he  means 
to  do  with  himself  after  leaving  college,  but  trust  that,  by  dabbling 
so  early  with  the  dangerous  and  seductive  business  of  authorship, 
he  will  not  be  tempted  to  become  an  author  by  profession.  If  so,  I 
shall  be  very  sorry  for  the  little  that  I  have  had  to  do  with  the  mat 
ter,  in  encouraging  these  first  beginnings. 

I  wish  there  were  any  likelihood  of  my  soon  seeing  Primrose, 
Periwinkle,  Dandelion,  Sweet  Fern,  Clover,  Plantain,  Huckleberry, 
Milkweed,  Cowslip,  Buttercup,  Blue  Eye,  and  Squash-Blossom  again. 
But  as  I  do  not  know  when  I  shall  revisit  Tanglewood,  and  as  Eus 
tace  Bright  probably  will  not  ask  me  to  edit  a  third  Wonder-Book, 
the  public  of  little  folks  must  not  expect  to  hear  any  more  about 
those  dear  children  from  me.  Heaven  bless  them,  and  everybody 
else,  whether  grown  people  or  children ! 

THE  WAYSIDE,  CONCORD,  MASS., 
March  13,  1853. 


IN  the  old  city  of  Troszene,  at  the  foot  of  a  lofty  mountain,  there 
lived,  a  very  long  time  ago,  a  little  boy  named  Theseus.  His  grand 
father,  King  Pittheus,  was  the  sovereign  of  that  country,  and  was 
reckoned  a  very  wise  man  ;  so  that  Theseus,  being  brought  up  in 
the  royal  palace,  and  being  naturally  a  bright  lad,  could  hardly  fail 
of  profiting  by  the  old  king's  instructions.  His  mother's  name  was 
^Ethra.  As  for  his  father,  the  boy  had  never  seen  him.  But,  from 
his  earliest  remembrance,  ^Ethra  used  to  go  with  little  Theseus  into 
a  wood,  and  sit  down  upon  a  moss-grown  rock,  which  was  deeply 
sunken  into  the  earth.  Here  she  often  talked  with  her  son  about 
his  father,  and  said  that  he  was  called  ^Egeus,  and  that  he  was  a 
great  king,  and  ruled  over  Attica,  and  dwelt  at  Athens,  which  was 
as  famous  a  city  as  any  in  the  world.  Theseus  was  very  fond  of 
hearing  about  King  /Egeus,  and  often  asked  his  good  mother  ^Ethra 
why  he  did  not  come  and  live  with  them  at  Troszene. 

"  Ah,  my  dear  son,"  answered  ^Ethra,  with  a  sigh,  "  a  monarch 
has  his  people  to  take  care  of.  The  men  and  women  over  whom 
he  rules  are  in  the  place  of  children  to  him  ;  and  he  can  seldom 
spare  time  to  love  his  own  children  as  other  parents  do.  Your 
father  will  never  be  able  to  leave  his  kingdom  for  the  sake  of  seeing 
his  little  boy." 

"  Well,  but,  dear  mother,"  asked  the  boy,  "  why  cannot  I  go  to 
this  famous  city  of  Athens,  and  tell  King  ^Egeus  that  I  am  his 
son  ?  " 

"  That  may  happen  by  and  by,"  said  ^Ethra.     "  Be  patient,  and 


10  THE  MINOTAUR. 

we  shall  see.     You  are  not  yet  big  and  strong  enough  to  set  out  on 
such  an  errand." 

"  And  how  soon  shall  I  be  strong  enough  ?  "  Theseus  persisted 
in  inquiring. 

"  You  are  but  a  tiny  boy  as  yet,"  replied  his  mother.  "  See  if 
you  can  lift  this  rock  on  which  we  are  sitting." 

The  little  fellow  had  a  great  opinion  of  his  own  strength.  So, 
grasping  the  rough  protuberances  of  the  rock,  he  tugged  and  toiled 
amain,  and  got  himself  quite  out  of  breath,  without  being  able  to 
stir  the  heavy  stone.  It  seemed  to  be  rooted  into  the  ground.  No 
wonder  he  could  not  move  it ;  for  it  would  have  taken  all  the  force 
of  a  very  strong  man  to  lift  it  out  of  its  earthy  bed. 

His  mother  stood  looking  on,  with  a  sad  kind  of  smile  on  her 
lips  and  in  her  eyes,  to  see  the  zealous  and  yet  puny  efforts  of  her 
little  boy.  She  could  not  help  being  sorrowful  at  finding  him 
already  so  impatient  to  begin  his  adventures  in  the  world. 

"  You  see  how  it  is,  my  dear  Theseus,"  said  she.  "  You  must 
possess  far  more  strength  than  now  before  I  can  trust  you  to  go  to 
Athens,  and  tell  King  ^geus  that  you  are  his  son.  But  when  you 
can  lift  this  rock,  and  show  me  what  is  hidden  beneath  it,  I  promise 
you  my  permission  to  depart." 

Often  and  often,  after  this,  did  Theseus  ask  his  mother  whether 
it  was  yet  time  for  him  to  go  to  Athens  ;  and  still  his  mother 
pointed  to  the  rock,  and  told  him  that,  for  years  to  come,  he  could 
not  be  strong  enough  to  move  it.  And  again  and  again  the  rosy- 
cheeked  and  curly-headed  boy  would  tug  and  strain  at  the  huge 
mass  of  stone,  striving,  child  as  he  was,  to  do  what  a  giant  could 
hardly  have  done  without  taking  both  of  his  great  hands  to  the 
task.  Meanwhile  the  rock  seemed  to  be  sinking  farther  and  farther 
into  the  ground.  The  moss  grew  over  it  thicker  and  thicker,  until 
at  last  it  looked  almost  like  a  soft  green  seat,  with  only  a  few  gray 
knobs  of  granite  peeping  out.  The  overhanging  trees,  also,  shed 
their  brown  leaves  upon  it,  as  often  as  the  autumn  came  ;  and  at 
its  base  grew  ferns  and  wild  flowers,  some  of  which  crept  quite  over 
its  surface.  To  all  appearance,  the  rock  was  as  firmly  fastened  as 
any  other  portion  of  the  earth's  substance. 

But,  difficult  as  the  matter  looked,  Theseus  was  now  growing  up 
to  be  such  a  vigorous  youth,  that,  in  his  own  opinion,  the  time 


THE  MINOTAUR.  11 

would  quickly  come  when  he  might  hope  to  get  the  upper  hand  of 
this  ponderous  lump  of  stone. 

<e  Mother,  I  do  believe  it  has  started ! "  cried  he,  after  one  of  his 
attempts.  "  The  earth  around  it  is  certainly  a  little  cracked !  " 

"No,  no,  child!"  his  mother  hastily  answered.  "It  is  not  pos 
sible  you  can  have  moved  it,  such  a  boy  as  you  still  are ! " 

Nor  would  she  be  convinced,  although  Theseus  showed  her  the 
place  where  he  fancied  that  the  stem  of  a  flower  had  been  partly 
uprooted  by  the  movement  of  the  rock.  But  ^Ethra  sighed  and 
looked  disquieted  ;  for,  no  doubt,  she  began  to  be  conscious  that  her 
son  was  no  longer  a  child,  and  that,  in  a  little  while  hence,  she  must 
send  him  forth  among  the  perils  and  troubles  of  the  world. 

It  was  not  more  than  a  year  afterwards  when  they  were  again 
sitting  on  the  moss-covered  stone.  ^Ethra  had  once  more  told  him 
the  oft-repeated  story  of  his  father,  and  how  gladly  he  would  receive 
Theseus  at  his  stately  palace,  and  how  he  would  present  him  to  his 
courtiers  and  the  people,  and  tell  them  that  here  was  the  heir  of 
his  dominions.  The  eyes  of  Theseus  glowed  with  enthusiasm,  and 
he  would  hardly  sit  still  to  hear  his  mother  speak. 

"  Dear  mother  ^Ethra,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  never  felt  half  so  strong 
as  now !  I  am  no  longer  a  child,  nor  a  boy,  nor  a  mere  youth  !  I 
feel  myself  a  man  !  It  is  now  time  to  make  one  earnest  trial  to 
remove  the  stone." 

"  Ah,  my  dearest  Theseus,"  replied  his  mother,  "  not  yet !  not 
yet!" 

"  Yes,  mother,"  said  he,  resolutely,  "  the  time  has  come." 

Then  Theseus   bent  himself  in   good   earnest  to   the  task,  and 

O  7 

strained  every  sinew,  with  manly  strength  and  resolution.  He  put 
his  whole  brave  heart  into  the  effort.  He  wrestler  with  the  big  and 
sluggish  stone,  as  if  it  had  been  a  living  enemy.  He  heaved,  he 
lifted,  he  resolved  now  to  succeed,  or  else  to  perish  there,  and  let 
the  rock  be  his  monument  forever !  ^Ethra  stood  gazing  at  him, 
and  clasped  her  hands,  partly  with  a  mother's  pride,  and  partly  with 
a  mother's  sorrow.  The  great  rock  stirred !  Yes,  it  was  raised 
slowly  from  the  bedded  moss  and  earth,  uprooting  the  shrubs  and 
flowers  along  with  it,  and  was  turned  upon  its  side  !  Theseus  had 
conquered ! 

While  taking  breath,  he  looked  joyfully  at  his  mother,  and  she 
smiled  upon  him  through  her  tears. 


12  THE  MINOTAUR. 

"  Yes,  Theseus,"  she  said,  "  the  time  has  come,  and  you  must 
stay  no  longer  at  my  side !  See  what  King  JEgeus,  your  royal 
father,  left  for  you,  beneath  the  stone,  when  he  lifted  it  in  his 
mighty  arms,  and  laid  it  on  the  spot  whence  you  have  now  removed 
it." 

Theseus  looked,  and  saw  that  the  rock  had  been  placed  over 
another  slab  of  stone,  containing  a  cavity  within  it ;  so  that  it  some 
what  resembled  a  roughly  made  chest  or  coffer,  of  which  the  upper 
mass  had  served  as  the  lid.  Within  the  cavity  lay  a  sword,  with  a 
golden  hilt,  and  a  pair  of  sandals. 

"That  was  your  father's  sword,"  said  ^Ethra,  "and  those  were 
his  sandals.  When  he  went  to  be  king  of  Athens,  he  bade  me  treat 
you  as  a  child  until  you  should  prove  yourself  a  man  by  lifting  this 
heavy  stone.  That  task  being  accomplished,  you  are  to  put  on 
his  sandals,  in  order  to  follow  in  your  father's  footsteps,  and  to  gird 
on  his  sword,  so  that  you  may  fight  giants  and  dragons,  as  King 
^Egeus  did  in  his  youth." 

"  I  will  set  out  for  Athens  this  very  day  !  "  cried  Theseus. 

But  his  mother  persuaded  him  to  stay  a  day  or  two  longer,  while 
she  got  ready  some  necessary  articles  for  his  journey.  When  his 
grandfather,  the  wise  King  Pittheus,  heard  that  Theseus  intended 
to  present  himself  at  his  father's  palace,  he  earnestly  advised  him  to 
get  on  board  of  a  vessel,  and  go  by  sea ;  because  he  might  thus 
arrive  within  fifteen  miles  of  Athens,  without  either  fatigue  or 
danger. 

"  The  roads  are  very  bad  by  land,"  quoth  the  venerable  king ; 
"  and  they  are  terribly  infested  with  robbers  and  monsters.  A  mere 
lad,  like  Theseus,  is  not  fit  to  be  trusted  on  such  a  perilous  journey, 
all  by  himself.  I !  o,  no  ;  let  him  go  by  sea !  " 

But  when  Theseus  heard  of  robbers  and  monsters,  he  pricked  up 
his  ears,  and  was  so  much  the  more  eager  to  take  the  road  along 
which  they  were  to  be  met  with.  On  the  third  day,  therefore,  he 
bade  a  respectful  farewell  to  his  grandfather,  thanking  him  for  all 
his  kindness,  and,  after  affectionately  embracing  his  mother,  he  set 
forth,  with  a  good  many  of  her  tears  glistening  on  his  cheeks,  and 
some,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  that  had  gushed  out  of  his  own 
eyes.  But  he  let  the  sun  and  wind  dry  them,  and  walked  stoutly 
on,  playing  with  the  golden  hilt  of  his  sword  and  taking  very  manly 
strides  in  his  father's  sandals. 


THE  MINOTAUR.  13 

I  cannot  stop  to  tell  you  hardly  any  of  the  adventures  that  befell 
Theseus  on  the  road  to  Athens.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  he  quite 
cleared  that  part  of  the  country  of  the  robbers,  about  whom  King 
Pittheus  had  been  so  much  alarmed.  One  of  these  bad  people  was 
named  Procrustes ;  and  he  was  indeed  a  terrible  fellow,  and  had  an 
ugly  way  of  making  fun  of  the  poor  travellers  who  happened  to  fall 
into  his  clutches.  In  his  cavern  he  had  a  bed,  on  which,  with  great 
pretence  of  hospitality,  he  invited  his  guests  to  lie  down ;  but  if 
they  happened  to  be  shorter  than  the  bed,  this  wicked  villain 
stretched  them  out  by  main  force ;  or,  if  they  were  too  long,  he 
lopped  off  their  heads  or  feet,  and  laughed  at  what  he  had  done,  as 
an  excellent  joke.  Thus,  however  weary  a  man  might  be,  he  never 
liked  to  lie  in  the  bed  of  Procrustes.  Another  of  these  robbers, 
named  Scinis,  must  likewise  have  been  a  very  great  scoundrel.  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  flinging  his  victims  off  a  high  cliff  into  the  sea ; 
and,  in  order  to  give  him  exactly  his  deserts,  Theseus  tossed  him  off 
the  very  same  place.  But  if  you  will  believe  me,  the  sea  would  not 
pollute  itself  by  receiving  such  a  bad  person  into  its  bosom,  neither 
would  the  earth,  having  once  got  rid  of  him,  consent  to  take  him 
back ;  so  that,  between  the  cliff  and  the  sea,  Scinis  stuck  fast  in  the 
air,  which  was  forced  to  bear  the  burden  of  his  naughtiness. 

After  these  memorable  deeds,  Theseus  heard  of  an  enormous  sow, 
which  ran  wild,  and  was  the  terror  of  all  the  farmers  round  about ; 
and,  as  he  did  not  consider  himself  above  doing  any  good  thing 
that  came  in  his  way,  he  killed  this  monstrous  creature,  and  gave 
the  carcass  to  the  poor  people  for  bacon.  The  great  sow  had  been 
an  awful  beast,  while  ramping  about  the  woods  and  fields,  but  was 
a  pleasant  object  enough  when  cut  up  into  joints,  and  smoking  on 
I  know  not  how  many  dinner  tables. 

Thus,  by  the  time  he  reached  his  journey's  end,  Theseus  had 
done  many  valiant  feats  with  his  father's  golden-hilted  sword,  and 
had  gained  the  renown  of  being  one  of  the  bravest  young  men 
of  the  day.  His  fame  travelled  faster  than  he  did,  and  reached 
Athens  before  him.  As  he  entered  the  city,  he  heard  the  inhab 
itants  talking  at  the  street-corners,  and  saying  that  Hercules  was 
brave,  and  Jason  too,  and  Castor  and  Pollux  likewise,  but  that 
Theseus,  the  son  of  their  own  king,  would  turn  out  as  great  a  hero 
as  the  best  of  them.  Theseus  took  longer  strides  on  hearing  this, 


14  THE  MINOTAUR. 

and  fancied  himself  sure  of  a  magnificent  reception  at  his  father's 
court,  since  he  came  thither  with  Fame  to  blow  her  trumpet  before 
him,  and  cry  to  King  ^Egeus,  "  Behold  your  son  !  " 

He  little  suspected,  innocent  youth  that  he  was,  that  here,  in  this 
very  Athens,  where  his  father  reigned,  a  greater  danger  awaited 
him  than  any  which  he  had  encountered  on  the  road.  Yet  this  was 
the  truth.  You  must  understand  that  the  father  of  Theseus,  though 
not  very  old  in  years,  was  almost  worn  out  with  the  cares  of  govern 
ment,  and  had  thus  grown  aged  before  his  time.  His  nephews,  not 
expecting  him  to  live  a  very  great  while,  intended  to  get  all  the 
power  of  the  kingdom  into  their  own  hands.  But  when  they  heard 
that  Theseus  had  arrived  in  Athens,  and  learned  what  a  gallant 
young  man  he  was,  they  saw  that  he  would  not  be  at  all  the  kind 
of  person  to  let  them  steal  away  his  father's  crown  and  sceptre, 
which  ought  to  be  his  own  by  right  of  inheritance.  Thus  these 
bad-hearted  nephews  of  King  .<Egeus,  who  were  the  own  cousins  of 
Theseus,  at  once  became  his  enemies.  A  still  more  dangerous 
enemy  was  Medea,  the  wicked  enchantress ;  for  she  was  now  the 
king's  wife,  and  wanted  to  give  the  kingdom  to  her  son  Medus, 
instead  of  letting  it  be  given  to  the  son  of  ^Ethra,  whom  she  hated. 

It  so  happened  that  the  king's  nephews  met  Theseus,  and  found 
out  who  he  v,  as,  just  as  he  reached  the  entrance  of  the  royal  palace. 
With  all  their  evil  designs  against  him,  they  pretended  to  be  their 
cousin's  best  friends,  and  expressed  great  joy  at  making  his  acquaint 
ance.  They  proposed  to  him  that  he  should  come  into  the  king's 
presence  as  a  stranger,  in  order  to  try  whether  JEgeus  would  dis 
cover  in  the  young  man's  features  any  likeness  either  to  himself  or 
his  mother  ^Ethra,  and  thus  recognize  him  for  a  son.  Theseus  con 
sented  ;  for  he  fancied  that  his  father  would  know  him  in  a  mo 
ment,  by  the  love  that  was  in  his  heart.  But,  while  lie  waited  at 
the  door,  the  nephews  ran  and  told  King  ^Egeus  that  a  young  man 
had  arrived  in  Athens,  who,  to  their  certain  knowledge,  intended  to 
put  him  to  death,  and  get  possession  of  his  royal  crown. 

"  And  he  is  now  waiting  for  admission  to  your  Majesty's  pres 
ence,"  added  they. 

"  Aha  !  "  cried  the  old  king,  on  hearing  this.  "  Why,  he  must 
be  a  very  wicked  young  fellow  indeed  !  Pray,  what  would  you  ad 
vise  me  to  do  with  him  ?  " 


THESEUS  TRYING   TO   LIFT  THE   ROCK.     Page  11. 


THE  MINOTAUR.  17 

In  reply  to  this  question,  the  wicked  Medea  put  in  her  word.  As 
I  have  already  told  you,  she  was  a  famous  enchantress.  According 
to  some  stories,  she  was  in  the  habit  of  boiling  old  people  in  a  large 
caldron,  under  pretence  of  making  them  young  again;  but  King 
^Egeus,  I  suppose,  did  not  fancy  such  an  uncomfortable  way  of 
growing  young,  or  perhaps  was  contented  to  be  old,  and  therefore 
would  never  let  himself  be  popped  into  the  caldron.  If  there  were 
time  to  spare  from  more  important  matters,  I  should  be  glad  to  tell 
you  of  Medea's  fiery  chariot,  drawn  by  winged  dragons,  in  which 
the  enchantress  used  often  to  take  an  airing  among  the  clouds.  This 
chariot,  in  fact,  was  the  vehicle  that  first  brought  her  to  Athens, 
where  she  had  done  nothing  but  mischief  ever  since  her  arrival. 
But  these  and  many  other  wonders  must  be  left  untold ;  and  it  is 
enough  to  say,  that  Medea,  amongst  a  thousand  other  bad  things, 
knew  how  to  prepare  a  poison,  that  was  instantly  fatal  to  whomso 
ever  might  so  much  as  touch  it  with  his  lips. 

So,  when  the  king  asked  what  he  should  do  with  Theseus,  this 
naughty  woman  had  an  answer  ready  at  her  tongue's  end. 

"  Leave  that  to  me,  please  your  Majesty,"  she  replied.  "  Only 
admit  this  evil-minded  young  man  to  your  presence,  treat  him  civ 
illy,  and  invite  him  to  drink  a  goblet  of  wine.  Your  Majesty  is  well 
aware  that  I  sometimes  amuse  myself  with  distilling  very  powerful 
medicines.  Here  is  one  of  them  in  this  small  phial.  As  to  what 
it  is  made  of,  that  is  one  of  my  secrets  of  state.  Do  but  let  me  put 
a  single  drop  into  the  goblet,  and  let  the  young  man  taste  it ;  and 
I  will  answer  for  it,  he  shall  quite  lay  aside  the  bad  designs  with 
which  he  comes  hither." 

As  she  said  this,  Medea  smiled ;  but,  for  all  her  smiling  face,  she 
meant  nothing  less  than  to  poison  the  poor  innocent  Theseus,  before 
his  father's  eyes.  And  King  ^Egeus,  like  most  other  kings,  thought 
any  punishment  mild  enough  for  a  person  who  was  accused  of  plot 
ting  against  his  life.  He  therefore  made  little  or  no  objection  to 
Medea's  scheme,  and  as  soon  as  the  poisonous  wine  was  ready,  gave 
orders  that  the  young  stranger  should  be  admitted  into  his  presence. 
The  goblet  was  set  on  a  table  beside  the  king's  throne ;  and  a  fly, 
meaning  just  to  sip  a  little  from  the  brim,  immediately  tumbled  into 
it,  dead.  Observing  this,  Medea  looked  round  at  the  nephews,  and 
smiled  again. 


18  THE  MINOTAUR. 

When  Theseus  was  ushered  into  the  royal  apartment,  the  only 
object  that  he  seemed  to  behold  was  the  white-bearded  old  king. 
There  he  sat  on  his  magnificent  throne,  a  dazzling  crown  on  his 
head,  and  a  sceptre  in  his  hand.  His  aspect  was  stately  and  majes 
tic,  although  his  years  and  infirmities  weighed  heavily  upon  him,  as 
if  each  year  were  a  lump  of  lead,  and  each  infirmity  a  ponderous 
stone,  and  all  were  bundled  up  together,  and  laid  upon  his  weary 
shoulders.  The  tears  both  of  joy  and  sorrow  sprang  into  the  young 
man's  eyes  ;  for  he  thought  how  sad  it  was  to  see  his  dear  father  so 
infirm,  and  how  sweet  it  would  be  to  support  him  with  his  own 
youthful  strength,  and  to  cheer  him  up  with  the  alacrity  of  his 
loving  spirit.  When  a  son  takes  his  father  into  his  warm  heart, 
it  renews  the  old  man's  youth  in  a  better  way  than  by  the  heat  of 
Medea's  magic  caldron.  And  this  was  what  Theseus  resolved  to 
do.  He  could  scarcely  wait  to  see  whether  King  .ZEgeus  would 
recognize  him,  so  eager  was  he  to  throw  himself  into  his  arms. 

Advancing  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  he  attempted  to  make  a 
little  speech,  which  he  had  been  thinking  about  as  he  came  up  the 
stairs.  But  he  was  almost  choked  by  a  great  many  tender  feelings 
that  gushed  out  of  his  heart  and  swelled  into  his  throat,  all  strug 
gling  to  find  utterance  together.  And  therefore,  unless  he  could 
have  laid  his  full,  over-brimming  heart  into  the  king's  hand,  poor 
Theseus  knew  not  what  to  do  or  say.  The  cunning  Medea  observed 
what  was  passing  in  the  young  man's  mind.  She  was  more  wicked 
at  that  moment  than  ever  she  had  been  before  ;  for  (and  it  makes 
me  tremble  to  tell  you  of  it)  she  did  her  worst  to  turn  all  this  un 
speakable  love  with  which  Theseus  was  agitated,  to  his  own  ruin 
and  destruction. 

"  Does  your  Majesty  see  his  confusion  ?  "  she  whispered  in  the 
king's  ear.  "  He  is  so  conscious  of  guilt,  that  he  trembles  and  can 
not  speak.  The  wretch  lives  too  long  !  Quick  !  offer  him  the 


Now  King  ^Egeus  had  been  gazing  earnestly  at  the  young  stran 
ger,  as  he  drew  near  the  throne.  There  was  something,  he  knew 
not  what,  either  in  his  white  brow,  or  in  the  fine  expression  of  his 
mouth,  or  in  his  beautiful  and  tender  eyes,  that  made  him  indis 
tinctly  feel  as  if  he  had  seen  this  youth  before  ;  as  if,  indeed,  he 
had  trotted  him  on  his  knee  when  a  baby,  and  had  beheld  him  grow- 


THE  MINOTAUR.  19 

ing  to  be  a  stalwart  man,  while  he  himself  grew  old.  But  Medea 
guessed  how  the  king  felt,  and  would  not  suffer  him  to  yield  to 
these  natural  sensibilities ;  although  they  were  the  voice  of  his  deep 
est  heart,  telling  him,  as  plainly  as  it  could  speak,  that  here  was  his 
dear  son,  and  ^Ethra's  son,  coming  to  claim  him  for  a  father.  The 
enchantress  again  whispered  in  the  king's  ear,  and  compelled  him; 
by  her  witchcraft,  to  see  everything  under  a  false  aspect. 

He  made  up  his  mind,  therefore,  to  let  Theseus  drink  off  the 
poisoned  wine. 

((  Young  man,"  said  he,  "  you  are  welcome  !  I  am  proud  to  show 
hospitality  to  so  heroic  a  youth.  Do  me  the  favor  to  drink  the 
contents  of  this  goblet.  It  is  brimming  over,  as  you  see,  with  deli 
cious  wine,  such  as  I  bestow  only  on  those  who  are  worthy  of  it ! 
None  is  more  worthy  to  quaff  it  than  yourself ! " 

So  saying,  King  ^Egeus  took  the  golden  goblet  from  the  table, 
and  was  about  to  offer  it  to  Theseus.  But  partly  through  his  in 
firmities,  and  partly  because  it  seemed  so  sad  a  thing  to  take  away 
this  young  man's  life,  however  wicked  he  might  be,  and  partly,  no 
doubt,  because  his  heart  was  wiser  than  his  head,  and  quaked  with 
in  him  at  the  thought  of  what  he  was  going  to  do,  —  for  all  these 
reasons,  the  king's  hand  trembled  so  much  that  a  great  deal  of  the 
wine  slopped  over.  In  order  to  strengthen  his  purpose,  and  fearing 
lest  the  whole  of  the  precious  poison  should  be  wasted,  one  of  his 
nephews  now  whispered  to  him,  — 

"  Has  your  Majesty  any  doubt  of  this  stranger's  guilt  ?  There 
is  the  very  sword  with  which  he  meant  to  slay  you.  How  sharp, 
and  bright,  and  terrible  it  is !  quick  !  —  let  him  taste  the  wine  ;  or 
perhaps  he  may  do  the  deed  even  yet." 

At  these  words  ^Egeus  drove  every  thought  and  feeling  out  of 
his  breast,  except  the  one  idea  of  how  justly  the  young  man  deserved 
to  be  put  to  death.  He  sat  erect  on  his  throne,  and  held  out  the 
goblet  of  wine  with  a  steady  hand,  and  bent  on  Theseus  a  frown  of 
kingly  severity ;  for,  after  all,  he  had  too  noble  a  spirit  to  murder 
even  a  treacherous  enemy  with  a  deceitful  smile  upon  his  face. 

"  Drink !  "  said  he,  in  the  stern  tone  with  which  he  was  wont  to 
condemn  a  criminal  to  be  beheaded.  "  You  have  well  deserved  of 
me  such  wine  as  this  ! " 

Theseus  held  out   his   hand  to  take  the  wine.     But  before  he 


20  THE  MINOTAUR. 

touched  it,  King  ^Egeus  trembled  again.  His  eyes  had  fallen  on 
the  gold-hilted  sword  that  hung  at  the  young  man's  side.  He 
drew  back  the  goblet. 

"  That  sword  ! "  he  cried ;  "  how  came  you  by  it  ?  " 

"It  was  my  father's  sword,"  replied  Theseus  with  a  tremulous 
voice.  "  These  were  his  sandals.  My  dear  mother  (her  name  is 
^Ethra)  told  me  his  story  while  I  was  yet  a  little  child.  But  it  is 
only  a  month  since  I  grew  strong  enough  to  lift  the  heavy  stone, 
and  take  the  sword  and  sandals  from  beneath  it,  and  come  to  Athens 
to  seek  my  father." 

"  My  son  !  my  son  !  "  cried  King  ^Egeus,  flinging  away  the  fatal 
goblet,  and  tottering  down  from  the  throne  to  fall  into  the  arms  of 
Theseus.  "  Yes,  these  are  ^Ethra's  eyes.  It  is  my  son." 

I  have  quite  forgotten  what  became  of  the  king's  nephews.  But 
when  the  wicked  Medea  saw  this  new  turn  of  affairs,  she  hurried 
out  of  the  room,  and  going  to  her  private  chamber,  lost  no  time  in 
setting  her  enchantments  at  work.  In  a  few  moments,  she  heard  a 
great  noise  of  hissing  snakes  outside  of  the  chamber  window ;  and, 
behold  !  there  was  her  fiery  chariot,  and  four  huge  winged  serpents, 
wriggling  and  twisting  in  the  air,  flourishing  their  tails  higher  than 
the  top  of  the  palace,  and  all  ready  to  set  off  on  an  aerial  journey. 
Medea  stayed  only  long  enough  to  take  her  son  with  her,  and  to 
steal  the  crown  jewels,  together  with  the  king's  best  robes,  and 
whatever  other  valuable  things  she  could  lay  hands  on  ;  and  getting 
into  the  chariot,  she  whipped  up  the  snakes,  and  ascended  high 
over  the  city. 

The  king,  hearing  the  hiss  of  the  serpents,  scrambled  as  fast  as 
he  could  to  the  window,  and  bawled  out  to  the  abominable  enchant 
ress  never  to  come  back.  The  whole  people  of  Athens,  too,  who 
had  run  out  of  doors  to  see  this  wonderful  spectacle,  set  up  a  shout 
of  joy  at  the  prospect  of  getting  rid  of  her.  Medea,  almost  burst 
ing  with  rage,  uttered  precisely  such  a  hiss  as  one  of  her  own  snakes, 
only  ten  times  more  venomous  and  spiteful ;  and  glaring  fiercely 
out  of  the  blaze  of  the  chariot,  she  shook  her  hands  over  the  multi 
tude  below,  as  if  she  were  scattering  a  million  of  curses  among  them. 
In  so  doing,  however,  she  unintentionally  let  fall  about  five  hun 
dred  diamonds  of  the  first  water,  together  with  a  thousand  great 
pearls,  and  two  thousand  emeralds,  rubies,  sapphires,  opals,  and 


THE  MINOTAUR.  21 

topazes,  to  which  she  had  helped  herself  out  of  the  king's  strong 
box.  All  these  came  pelting  down,  like  a  shower  of  many-colored 
hailstones,  upon  the  heads  of  grown  people  and  children,  who  forth 
with  gathered  them  up  and  carried  them  back  to  the  palace.  But 
King  ^Egeus  told  them  that  they  were  welcome  to  the  whole,  and 
to  twice  as  many  more,  if  he  had  them,  for  the  sake  of  his  delight 
at  finding  his  son,  and  losing  the  wicked  Medea.  And,  indeed,  if 
you  had  seen  how  hateful  was  her  last  look,  as  the  flaming  chariot 
flew  upward,  you  would  not  have  wondered  that  both  king  and 
people  should  think  her  departure  a  good  riddance. 

And  now  Prince  Theseus  was  taken  into  great  favor  by  his  royal 
father.  The  old  king  was  never  weary  of  having  him  sit  beside 
him  on  his  throne  (which  was  quite  wide  enough  for  two),  and  of 
hearing  him  tell  about  his  dear  mother,  and  his  childhood,  and  his 
many  boyish  efforts  to  lift  the  ponderous  stone.  Theseus,  however, 
was  much  too  brave  and  active  a  young  man  to  be  willing  to  spend 
all  his  time  in  relating  things  which  had  already  happened.  His  am 
bition  was  to  perform  other  and  more  heroic  deeds,  which  should  be 
better  worth  telling  in  prose  and  verse.  Nor  had  he  been  long  in 
Athens  before  he  caught  and  chained  a  terrible  mad  bull,  and  made 
a  public  show  of  him,  greatly  to  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  good 
King  ^Egeus  and  his  subjects.  But  pretty  soon,  he  undertook  an 
affair  that  made  all  his  foregone  adventures  seem  like  mere  boy's 
play.  The  occasion  of  it  was  as  follows  :  — 

One  morning,  when  Prince  Theseus  awoke,  he  fancied  that  he 
must  have  had  a  very  sorrowful  dream,  and  that  it  was  still  running 
in  his  mind,  even  now  that  his  eyes  were  open.  For  it  appeared  as 
if  the  air  was  full  of  a  melancholy  wail ;  and  when  he  listened  more 
attentively,  he  could  hear  sobs  and  groans,  and  screams  of  woe, 
mingled  with  deep,  quiet  sighs,  which  came  from  the  king's  palace, 
and  from  the  streets,  and  from  the  temples,  and  from  every  habita 
tion  in  the  city.  And  all  these  mournful  noises,  issuing  out  of  thou 
sands  of  separate  hearts,  united  themselves  into  the  one  great  sound 
of  affliction,  which  had  startled  Theseus  from  slumber.  He  put  on 
his  clothes  as  quickly  as  he  could  (not  forgetting  his  sandals  and 
gold-hilted  sword),  and  hastening  to  the  king,  inquired  what  it  all 
meant. 

"  Alas  !  my  son,"  quoth  King  ^Egeus,  heaving  a  long  sigh,  "  here 


22  THE  MINOTAUR. 

is  a  very  lamentable  matter  in  hand  !  This  is  the  wof  ullest  anniver 
sary  in  the  whole  year.  It  is  the  day  when  we  annually  draw  lots 
to  see  which  of  the  youths  and  maidens  of  Athens  shall  go  to  be 
devoured  by  the  horrible  Minotaur  !  " 

"  The  Minotaur  !  "  exclaimed  Prince  Theseus  ;  and,  like  a  brave 
young  prince  as  he  was,  he  put  his  hand  to  the  hilt  of  his  sword. 
"  What  kind  of  a  monster  may  that  be  ?  Is  it  not  possible,  at  the 
risk  of  one's  life,  to  slay  him  ?" 

But  King  ^Egeus  shook  his  venerable  head,  and  to  convince  The 
seus  that  it  was  quite  a  hopeless  case,  he  gave  him  an  explanation 
of  the  whole  affair.  It  seems  that  in  the  island  of  Crete  there  lived 
a  certain  dreadful  monster,  called  a  Minotaur,  which  was  shaped 
partly  like  a  man  and  partly  like  a  bull,  and  was  altogether  such  a 
hideous  sort  of  a  creature  that  it  is  really  disagreeable  to  think  of 
him.  If  he  were  suffered  to  exist  at  all,  it  should  have  been  on 
some  desert  island,  or  in  the  duskiness  of  some  deep  cavern,  where 
nobody  would  ever  be  tormented  by  his  abominable  aspect.  But 
King  Minos,  who  reigned  over  Crete,  laid  out  a  vast  deal  of  money 
in  building  a  habitation  for  the  Minotaur,  and  took  great  care  of  his 
health  and  comfort,  merely  for  mischief's  sake.  A  few  years  before 
this  time,  there  had  been  a  war  between  the  city  of  Athens  and  the 
island  of  Crete,  in  which  the  Athenians  were  beaten,  and  compelled 
to  beg  for  peace.  No  peace  could  they  obtain,  however,  except  on 
condition  that  they  should  send  seven  young  men  and  seven  maid 
ens,  every  year,  to  be  devoured  by  the  pet  monster  of  the  cruel  King 
Minos.  For  three  years  past  this  grievous  calamity  had  been  borne. 
And  the  sobs,  and  groans,  and  shrieks,  with  which  the  city  was  now 
filled,  were  caused  by  the  people's  woe,  because  the  fatal  day  had 
come  again,  when  the  fourteen  victims  were  to  be  chosen  by  lot ; 
and  the  old  people  feared  lest  their  sons  or  daughters  might  be 
taken,  and  the  youths  and  damsels  dreaded  lest  they  themselves 
might  be  destined  to  glut  the  ravenous  maw  of  that  detestable  man- 
brute. 

But  when  Theseus  heard  the  story,  he  straightened  himself  rp,  so 
that  he  seemed  taller  than  ever  before ;  and  as  for  his  face,  it  was 
indignant,  despiteful,  bold,  tender,  and  compassionate,  all  in  one 
look. 

"  Let  the  people  of  Athens,  this  year,  draw  lots  for  only  six  young 


THE  MINOTAUR.  23 

men,  instead  of  seven,"  said  he.     "  I  will  myself  be  the  seventh ; 
and  let  the  Minotaur  devour  me,  if  he  can !  " 

"  0  my  dear  son,"  cried  King  ^Egeus,  "  why  should  you  expose 
yourself  to  this  horrible  fate  ?  You  are  a  royal  prince,  and  have  a 
right  to  hold  yourself  above  the  destinies  of  common  men." 

"  It  is  because  I  am  a  prince,  your  son,  and  the  rightful  heir  of 
your  kingdom,  that  I  freely  take  upon  me  the  calamity  of  your  sub 
jects,"  answered  Theseus.  "  And  you,  my  father,  being  king  over 
this  people,  and  answerable  to  Heaven  for  their  welfare,  are  bound 
to  sacrifice  what  is  dearest  to  you,  rather  than  that  the  son  or  daugh 
ter  of  the  poorest  citizen  should  come  to  any  harm." 

The  old  king  shed  tears,  and  besought  Theseus  not  to  leave  him 
desolate  in  his  old  age,  more  especially  as  he  had  but  just  begun  to 
know  the  happiness  of  possessing  a  good  and  valiant  son.  Theseus, 
however,  felt  that  he  was  in  the  right,  and  therefore  would  not  give 
up  his  resolution.  But  he  assured  his  father  that  he  did  not  intend 
to  be  eaten  up,  unresistingly,  like  a  sheep,  and  that,  if  the  Minotaur 
devoured  him,  it  should  not  be  without  a  battle  for  his  dinner.  And 
finally,  since  he  could  not  help  it,  King  ^Egeus  consented  to  let  him 
go.  So  a  vessel  was  got  ready,  and  rigged  with  black  sails ;  and 
Theseus,  with  six  other  young  men,  and  seven  tender  and  beautiful 
damsels,  came  down  to  the  harbor  to  embark.  A  sorrowful  multi 
tude  accompanied  them  to  the  shore.  There  was  the  poor  old  king, 
too,  leaning  on  his  son's  arm,  and  looking  as  if  his  single  heart  held 
all  the  grief  of  Athens. 

Just  as  Prince  Theseus  was  going  on  board,  his  father  bethought 
himself  of  one  last  word  to  say. 

"My  beloved  son,"  said  he,  grasping  the  prince's  hand,  "you  ob 
serve  that  the  sails  of  this  vessel  are  black ;  as  indeed  they  ought  to 
be,  since  it  goes  upon  a  voyage  of  sorrow  and  despair.  Now,  being 
weighed  down  with  infirmities,  I  know  not  whether  I  can  survive 
till  the  vessel  shall  return.  But,  as  long  as  I  do  live,  I  shall  creep 
daily  to  the  top  of  yonder  cliff,  to  watch  if  there  be  a  sail  upon  the 
sea.  And,  dearest  Theseus,  if  by  some  happy  chance  you  should 
escape  the  jaws  of  the  Minotaur,  then  tear  down  those  dismal  sails, 
and  hoist  others  that  shall  be  bright  as  the  sunshine.  Beholding 
them  on  the  horizon,  myself  and  all  the  people  will  know  that  you 
are  coming  back  victorious,  and  will  welcome  you  with  such  a  festal 
uproar  as  Athens  never  heard  before." 


24  THE  MINOTAUR. 

Theseus  promised  that  he  would  do  so.  Then,  going  on  board, 
the  mariners  trimmed  the  vessel's  black  sails  to  the  wind,  which 
blew  faintly  off  the  shore,  being  pretty  much  made  up  of  the  sighs 
that  everybody  kept  pouring  forth  on  this  melancholy  occasion. 
But  by  and  by,  when  they  had  got  fairly  out  to  sea,  there  came  a 
stiff  breeze  from  the  northwest,  and  drove  them  along  as  merrily 
over  the  white-capped  waves  as  if  they  had  been  going  on  the  most 
delightful  errand  imaginable.  And  though  it  was  a  sad  business 
enough,  I  rather  question  whether  fourteen  young  people,  without 
any  old  persons  to  keep  them  in  order,  could  continue  to  spend  the 
whole  time  of  the  voyage  in  being  miserable.  There  had  been 
some  few  dances  upon  the  undulating  deck,  I  suspect,  and  some 
hearty  bursts  of  laughter,  and  other  such  unseasonable  merriment 
among  the  victims,  before  the  high,  blue  mountains  of  Crete  began 
to  show  themselves  among  the  far-off  clouds.  That  sight,  to  be 
sure,  made  them  all  very  grave  again. 

Theseus  stood  among  the  sailors,  gazing  eagerly  towards  the  land ; 
although,  as  yet,  it  seemed  hardly  more  substantial  than  the  clouds, 
amidst  which  the  mountains  were  looming  up.  Once  or  twice,  he 
fancied  that  he  saw  a  glare  of  some  bright  object,  a  long  way  off, 
flinging  a  gleam  across  the  waves. 

"  Did  you  see  that  flash  of  light  ?  "  he  inquired  of  the  master  of 
the  vessel. 

"No,  prince;  but  I  have  seen  it  before,"  answered  the  master. 
"It  came  from  Talus,  I  suppose." 

As  the  breeze  came  fresher  just  then,  the  master  was  busy  with 
trimming  his  sails,  and  had  no  more  time  to  answer  questions.  But 
while  the  vessel  flew  faster  and  faster  towards  Crete,  Theseus  was 
astonished  to  behold  a  human  figure,  gigantic  in  size,  which  ap 
peared  to  be  striding  with  a  measured  movement,  along  the  margin 
of  the  island.  It  stepped  from  cliff  to  cliff,  and  sometimes  from  one 
headland  to  another,  while  the  sea  foamed  and  thundered  on  the 
shore  beneath,  and  dashed  its  jets  of  spray  over  the  giant's  feet. 
What  was  still  more  remarkable,  whenever  the  sun  shone  on  this 
huge  figure,  it  flickered  and  glimmered ;  its  vast  countenance,  too, 
had  a  metallic  lustre,  and  threw  great  flashes  of  splendor  through 
the  air.  The  folds  of  its  garments,  moreover,  instead  of  waving  in 
the  wind,  fell  heavily  over  its  limbs,  as  if  woven  of  some  kind  of 
metal. 


THE  MINOTAUR. 


25 


The  nigher  the  vessel 
came,  the  more  Theseus 
wondered  what  this  im 
mense  giant  could  be,  and 
whether  it  actually  had 
life  or  no.  For  though 
it  walked,  and  made  other 
lifelike  motions,  there  yet 
was  a  kind  of  jerk  in  its 
gait,  which,  together  with 
its  brazen  aspect,  caused 
the  prince  to  suspect  that 
it  was  no  true  giant,  but 
only  a  wonderful  piece  of 
machinery.  The  figure 
looked  all  the  more  ter 
rible  because  it  carried  an 
enormous  brass  club  on  its 
shoulder. 

"  What  is  this  wonder?" 
Theseus  asked  of  the  mas 
ter  of  the  vessel,  who  was 
now  at  leisure  to  answer 
him. 

"  It  is  Talus,  the  Man 
of  Brass,"  said  the  master. 

"  And  is  he  a  live  giant, 
or  a  brazen  image  ?  "  asked 
Theseus. 

"That,  truly,"  replied 
the  master,  "  is  the  point 
which  has  always  per 
plexed  me.  Some  say, 
indeed,  that  this  Talus 
was  hammered  out  for 
King  Minos  by  Vulcan 
himself,  the  skilf idlest  of 
all  workers  in  metal.  But 
who  ever  saw  a  brazen 
image  that  had  sense 


26  THE  MINOTAUR. 

enough  to  walk  round  an  island  three  times  a  day,  as  this  giant 
walks  round  the  island  of  Crete,  challenging  every  vessel  that 
comes  nigh  the  shore  ?  And,  on  the  other  hand,  what  living  thing, 
unless  his  sinews  were  made  of  brass,  would  not  be  weary  of  march 
ing  eighteen  hundred  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  as  Talus  does, 
without  ever  sitting  down  to  rest?  He  is  a  puzzler,  take  him  how 
you  will." 

Still  the  vessel  went  bounding  onward ;  and  now  Theseus  could 
hear  the  brazen  clangor  of  the  giant's  footsteps,  as  he  trod  heavily 
upon  the  sea-beaten  rocks,  some  of  which  were  seen  to  crack  and 
crumble  into  the  foamy  waves  beneath  his  weight.  As  they  ap 
proached  the  entrance  of  the  port,  the  giant  straddled  clear  across 
it,  with  a  foot  firmly  planted  on  each  headland,  and  uplifting  his 
club  to  such  a  height  that  its  but-end  was  hidden  in  a  cloud,  he 
stood  in  that  formidable  posture,  with  the  sun  gleaming  all  over  his 
metallic  surface.  There  seemed  nothing  else  to  be  expected  but  that, 
the  next  moment,  he  would  fetch  his  great  club  down,  slam  bang, 
and  smash  the  vessel  into  a  thousand  pieces,  without  heeding  how 
many  innocent  people  he  might  destroy ;  for  there  is  seldom  any 
mercy  in  a  giant,  you  know,  and  quite  as  little  in  a  piece  of  brass 
clock-work.  But  just  when  Theseus  and  his  companions  thought 
the  blow  was  coming,  the  brazen  lips  unclosed  themselves,  and  the 
figure  spoke. 

"  Whence  come  you,  strangers?" 

And  when  the  ringing  voice  ceased,  there  was  just  such  a  rever 
beration  as  you  may  have  heard  within  a  great  church  bell,  for  a 
moment  or  two  after  the  stroke  of  the  hammer. 

"  From  Athens  !  "  shouted  the  master  in  reply. 

"  On  what  errand  ?  "  thundered  the  Man  of  Brass. 

And  he  whirled  his  club  aloft  more  threateningly  than  ever,  as  if 
he  were  about  to  smite  them  with  a  thunder-stroke  right  amidships, 
because  Athens,  so  little  while  ago,  had  been  at  war  with  Crete. 

"We  bring  the  seven  youths  and  the  seven  maidens,"  answered 
the  master,  "  to  be  devoured  by  the  Minotaur  !  " 

"  Pass  !  "  cried  the  brazen  giant. 

That  one  loud  word  rolled  all  about  the  sky,  while  again  there 
was  a  booming  reverberation  within  the  figure's  breast.  The  vessel 
glided  between  the  headlands  of  the  port,  and  the  giant  resumed 
his  march.  In  a  few  moments,  this  wondrous  sentinel  was  far  awa}7, 


THE  MINOTAUR.  27 

flashing  in  the  distant  sunshine,  and  revolving  with  immense  strides 
around  the  island  of  Crete,  as  it  was  his  never-ceasing  task  to  do. 

No  sooner  had  they  entered  the  harbor  than  a  party  of  the  guards 
of  King  Minos  came  down  to  the  water-side,  and  took  charge  of  the 
fourteen  young  men  and  damsels.  Surrounded  by  these  armed 
warriors,  Prince  Theseus  and  his  companions  were  led  to  the  king's 
palace,  and  ushered  into  his  presence.  Now,  Minos  was  a  stern  and 
pitiless  king.  If  the  figure  that  guarded  Crete  was  made  of  brass, 
then  the  monarch  who  ruled  over  it  might  be  thought  to  have  a 
still  harder  metal  in  his  breast,  and  might  have  been  called  a  man 
of  iron.  He  bent  his  shaggy  brows  upon  the  poor  Athenian  victims. 
Any  other  mortal,  beholding  their  fresh  and  tender  beauty,  and 
their  innocent  looks,  would  have  felt  himself  sitting  on  thorns  until 
he  had  made  every  soul  of  them  happy,  by  bidding  them  go  free  as 
the  summer  wind.  But  this  immitigable  Minos  cared  only  to  ex 
amine  whether  they  were  plump  enough  to  satisfy  the  Minotaur's 
appetite.  For  my  part,  I  wish  he  himself  had  been  the  only  victim ; 
and  the  monster  would  have  found  him  a  pretty  tough  one. 

One  after  another,  King  Minos  called  these  pale,  frightened  youths 
and  sobbing  maidens  to  his  footstool,  gave  them  each  a  poke  in  the 
ribs  with  his  sceptre  (to  try  whether  they  were  in  good  flesh  or  no), 
and  dismissed  them  with  a  nod  to  his  guards.  But  when  his  eyes 
rested  on  Theseus,  the  king  looked  at  him  more  attentively,  because 
his  face  was  calm  and  brave. 

"  Young  man,"  asked  he,  with  his  stern  voice,  "  are  you  not  ap 
palled  at  the  certainty  of  being  devoured  by  this  terrible  Minotaur?" 

"  I  have  offered  my  life  in  a  good  cause,"  answered  Theseus,  "  and 
therefore  I  give  it  freely  and  gladly.  But  thou,  King  Minos,  art 
thou  not  thyself  appalled,  who,  year  after  year,  hast  perpetrated  this 
dreadful  wrong,  by  giving  seven  innocent  youths  and  as  many 
maidens  to  be  devoured  by  a  monster?  Dost  thou  not  tremble, 
wicked  king,  to  turn  thine  eyes  inward  on  thine  own  heart  ?  Sitting 
there  on  thy  golden  throne,  and  in  thy  robes  of  majesty,  I  tell  thee 
to  thy  face,  King  Minos,  thou  art  a  more  hideous  monster  than  the 
Minotaur  himself ! " 

"Aha!  do  you  think  me  so?"  cried  the  king,  laughing  in  his 
cruel  way.  "  To-morrow,  at  breakfast-time,  you  shall  have  an  op 
portunity  of  judging  which  is  the  greater  monster,  the  Minotaur  or 


28  THE  MINOTAUR. 

the  king  !  Take  them  away,  guards ;  and  let  this  free-spoken  youth 
be  the  Minotaur's  first  morsel !  " 

Near  the  king's  throne  (though  I  had  no  time  to  tell  you  so 
before)  stood  his  daughter  Ariadne.  She  was  a  beautiful  and 
tender-hearted  maiden,  and  looked  at  these  poor  doomed  captives 
with  very  different  feelings  from  those  of  the  iron-breasted  King 
Minos.  She  really  wept,  indeed,  at  the  idea  of  how  much  human 
happiness  would  be  needlessly  thrown  away,  by  giving  so  many 
young  people,  in  the  first  bloom  and  rose  blossom  of  their  lives,  to 
be  eaten  up  by  a  creature  who,  no  doubt,  would  have  preferred  a 
fat  ox,  or  even  a  large  pig,  to  the  plumpest  of  them.  And  when 
she  beheld  the  brave,  spirited  figure  of  Prince  Theseus  bearing  him 
self  so  calmly  in  his  terrible  peril,  she  grew  a  hundred  times  more 
pitiful  than  before.  As  the  guards  were  taking  him  away,  she  flung 
herself  at  the  king's  feet,  and  besought  him  to  set  all  the  captives 
free,  and  especially  this  one  young  man. 

"  Peace,  foolish  girl !  "  answered  King  Minos.  "  What  hast  thou 
to  do  with  an  affair  like  this?  It  is  a  matter  of  state  policy,  and 
therefore  quite  beyond  thy  weak  comprehension.  Go  water  thy 
flowers,  and  think  no  more  of  these  Athenian  caitiffs,  whom  the 
Minotaur  shall  as  certainly  eat  up  for  breakfast  as  I  will  eat  a  par 
tridge  for  my  supper." 

So  saying,  the  king  looked  cruel  enough  to  devour  Theseus  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  captives,  himself,  had  there  been  no  Minotaur  to 
save  him  the  trouble.  As  he  would  hear  not  another  word  in  their 
favor,  the  prisoners  were  now  led  away,  and  clapped  into  a  dungeon, 
where  the  jailer  advised  them  to  go  to  sleep  as  soon  as  possible,  be 
cause  the  Minotaur  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  for  breakfast  early. 
The  seven  maidens  and  six  of  the  young  men  soon  sobbed  them 
selves  to  slumber  !  But  Theseus  was  not  like  them.  He  felt  con 
scious  that  he  was  wiser  and  braver  and  stronger  than  his  compan 
ions,  and  that  therefore  he  had  the  responsibility  of  all  their  lives 
upon  him,  and  must  consider  whether  there  was  no  way  to  save 
them,  even  in  this  last  extremity.  So  he  kept  himself  awake,  and 
paced  to  and  fro  across  the  gloomy  dungeon  in  which  they  were 
shut  up. 

Just  before  midnight,  the  door  was  softly  unbarred,  and  the 
gentle  Ariadne  showed  herself,  with  a  torch  in  her  hand. 


THE  MINOTAUR.  29 

"  Are  you  awake,  Prince  Theseus  ?  "  she  whispered. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Theseus.  "  With  so  little  time  to  live,  I  do  not 
choose  to  waste  any  of  it  in  sleep." 

"  Then  follow  me,"  said  Ariadne,  "  and  tread  softly." 

What  had  become  of  the  jailer  and  the  guards,  Theseus  never 
knew.  But  however  that  might  be,  Ariadne  opened  all  the  doors, 
and  led  him  forth  from  the  darksome  prison  into  the  pleasant  moon 
light. 

"  Theseus,"  said  the  maiden,  "  you  can  now  get  on  board  your 
vessel,  and  sail  away  for  Athens." 

"  No,"  answered  the  young  man  ;  "  I  will  never  leave  Crete  unless 
I  can  first  slay  the  Minotaur,  and  save  my  poor  companions,  and 
deliver  Athens  from  this  cruel  tribute." 

"  I  knew  that  this  would  be  your  resolution."  said  Ariadne. 
"  Come,  then,  with  me,  brave  Theseus.  Here  is  your  own  sword, 
which  the  guards  deprived  you  of.  You  will  need  it ;  and  pray 
Heaven  you  may  use  it  well." 

.  Then  she  led  Theseus  along  by  the  hand  until  they  came  to  a 
dark,  shadowy  grove,  where  the  moonlight  wasted  itself  on  the  tops 
of  the  trees,  without  shedding  hardly  so  much  as  a  glimmering  beam 
upon  their  pathway.  After  going  a  good  way  through  this  obscu 
rity,  they  reached  a  high,  marble  wall,  which  was  overgrown  with 
creeping  plants,  that  made  it  shaggy  with  their  verdure.  The  wall 
seemed  to  have  no  door,  nor  any  windows,  but  rose  up,  lofty,  and 
massive,  and  mysterious,  and  was  neither  to  be  clambered  over,  nor, 
so  far  as  Theseus  could  perceive,  to  be  passed  through.  Neverthe 
less,  Ariadne  did  but  press  one  of  her  soft  little  fingers  against  a 
particular  block  of  marble,  and,  though  it  looked  as  solid  as  any 
other  part  of  the  wall,  it  yielded  to  her  touch,  disclosing  an  entrance 
just  wide  enough  to  admit  them.  They  crept  through,  and  the 
marble  stone  swung  back  into  its  place. 

"  We  are  now,"  said  Ariadne,  "  in  the  famous  labyrinth  which 
Daedalus  built  before  he  made  himself  a  pair  of  wings,  and  flew 
away  from  our  island  like  a  bird.  That  Daedalus  was  a  very  cun 
ning  workman ;  but  of  all  his  artful  contrivances,  this  labyrinth  is 
the  most  wondrous.  Were  we  to  take  but  a  few  steps  from  the 
doorway,  we  might  wander  about  all  our  lifetime,  and  never  find  it 
again.  Yet  in  the  very  centre  of  this  labyrinth  is  the  Minotaur ; 
and,  Theseus,  you  must  go  thither  to  seek  him." 


30  THE  MINOTAUR. 

"  But  how  shall  I  ever  find  him,"  asked  Theseus,  "if  the  laby 
rinth  so  bewilders  me  as  you  say  it  will  ?  " 

Just  as  he  spoke  they  heard  a  rough  and  very  disagreeable  roar, 
which  greatly  resembled  the  lowing  of  a  fierce  bull,  but  yet  had 
some  sort  of  sound  like  the  human  voice.  Theseus  even  fancied  a 
rude  articulation  in  it,  as  if  the  creature  that  uttered  it  were  trying 
to  shape  his  hoarse  breath  into  words.  It  was  at  some  distance, 
however,  and  he  really  could  not  tell  whether  it  sounded  most  like 
a  bull's  roar  or  a  man's  harsh  voice. 

"  That  is  the  Minotaur's  noise/'  whispered  Ariadne,  closely  grasp 
ing  the  hand  of  Theseus,  and  pressing  one  of  her  own  hands  to  her 
heart,  which  was  all  in  a  tremble.  "  You  must  follow  that  sound 
through  the  windings  of  the  labyrinth,  and,  by  and  by,  you  will  find 
him.  Stay!  take  the  end  of  this  silken  string;  I  will  hold  the 
other  end ;  and  then,  if  you  win  the  victory,  it  will  lead  you  again 
to  this  spot.  Farewell,  brave  Theseus." 

So  the  young  man  took  the  end  of  the  silken  string  in  his  left 
hand,  and  his  gold-hilted  sword,  ready  drawn  from  its  scabbard,  in 
the  other,  and  trod  boldly  into  the  inscrutable  labyrinth.  How  this 
labyrinth  was  built  is  more  than  I  can  tell  you.  But  so  cunningly 
contrived  a  mizmaze  was  never  seen  in  the  world,  before  nor  since. 
There  can  be  nothing  else  so  intricate,  unless  it  were  the  brain  of  a 
man  like  Daedalus,  who  planned  it,  or  the  heart  of  any  ordinary 
man ;  which  last,  to  be  sure,  is  ten  times  as  great  a  mystery  as  the 
labyrinth  of  Crete.  Theseus  had  not  taken  five  steps  before  he  lost 
sight  of  Ariadne ;  and  in  five  more  his  head  was  growing  dizzy. 
But  still  he  went  on,  now  creeping  through  a  low  arch,  now  ascend 
ing  a  flight  of  steps,  now  in  one  crooked  passage  and  now  in  another, 
with  here  a  door  opening  before  him,  and  there  one  banging  behind, 
until  it  really  seemed  as  if  the  walls  spun  round,  and  whirled  him 
round  along  with  them.  And  all  the  while,  through  these  hollow 
avenues,  now  nearer,  now  farther  off  again,  resounded  the  cry  of  the 
Minotaur ;  and  the  sound  was  so  fierce,  so  cruel,  so  ugly,  so  like  a 
bull's  roar,  and  withal  so  like  a  human  voice,  and  yet  like  neither  of 
them,  that  the  brave  heart  of  Theseus  grew  sterner  and  angrier  at 
every  step ;  for  he  felt  it  an  insult  to  the  moon  and  sky,  and  to  our 
affectionate  and  simple  Mother  Earth,  that  such  a  monster  should 
have  the  audacity  to  exist. 


THE  MINOTAUR.  31 

As  he  passed  onward,  the  clouds  gathered  over  the  moon,  and  the 
labyrinth  grew  so  dusky  that  Theseus  could  no  longer  discern  the 
bewilderment  through  which  he  was  passing.  He  would  have  felt 
quite  lost,  and  utterly  hopeless  of  ever  again  walking  in  a  straight 
path,  if,  every  little  while,  he  had  not  been  conscious  of  a  gentle 
twitch  at  the  silken  cord.  Then  he  knew  that  the  tender-hearted 
Ariadne  was  still  holding  the  other  end,  and  that  she  was  fearing 
for  him,  and  hoping  for  him,  and  giving  him  just  as  much  of  her 
sympathy  as  if  she  were  close  by  his  side.  Oh,  indeed,  I  can  assure 
you,  there  was  a  vast  deal  of  human  sympathy  running  along  that 
slender  thread  of  silk.  But  still  he  followed  the  dreadful  roar  of 
the  Minotaur,  which  now  grew  louder  and  louder,  and  finally  so  very 
loud  that  Theseus  fully  expected  to  come  close  upon  him,  at  every 
new  zigzag  and  wriggle  of  the  path.  And  at  last,  in  an  open  space, 
at  the  very  centre  of  the  labyrinth,  he  did  discern  the  hideous  crea 
ture. 

Sure  enough,  what  an  ugly  monster  it  was  !  Only  his  horned 
head  belonged  to  a  bull ;  and  yet,  somehow  or  other,  he  looked  like 
a  bull  all  over,  preposterously  waddling  on  his  hind  legs  ;  or,  if  you 
happened  to  view  him  in  another  way,  he  seemed  wholly  a  man,  and 
all  the  more  monstrous  for  being  so.  And  there  he  was,  the 
wretched  thing,  with  no  society,  no  companion,  no  kind  of  a  mate? 
living  only  to  do  mischief,  and  incapable  of  knowing  what  affection 
means.  Theseus  hated  him,  and  shuddered  at  him,  and  yet  could 
not  but  be  sensible  of  some  sort  of  pity ;  and  all  the  more,  the 
uglier  and  more  detestable  the  creature  was.  For  he  kept  striding 
to  and  fro  in  a  solitary  frenzy  of  rage,  continually  emitting  a  hoarse 
roar,  which  was  oddly  mixed  up  with  half -shaped  words ;  and,  after 
listening  awhile,  Theseus  understood  that  the  Minotaur  was  saying 
to  himself  how  miserable  he  was,  and  how  hungry,  and  how  he 
hated  everybody,  and  how  he  longed  to  eat  up  the  human  race 
alive. 

Ah,  the  bull-headed  villain !  And,  0  my  good  little  people,  you 
will  perhaps  see,  one  of  these  days,  as  I  do  now,  that  every  human 
being  who  suffers  anything  evil  to  get  into  his  nature,  or  to  remain 
there,  is  a  kind  of  Minotaur,  an  enemy  of  his  fellow-creatures,  and 
separated  from  all  good  companionship,  as  this  poor  monster  was. 

Was  Theseus  afraid  ?     By  no  means,  my  dear  auditors.     What ! 


32  THE  MINOTAUR. 

a  hero  like  Theseus  afraid  !  Not  had  the  Minotaur  had  twenty 
bull  heads  instead  of  one.  Bold  as  he  was,  however,  I  rather  fancy 
that  it  strengthened  his  valiant  heart,  just  at  this  crisis,  to  feel  a 
tremulous  twitch  at  the  silken  cord,  which  he  was  still  holding  in 
his  left  hand.  It  was  as  if  Ariadne  were  giving  him  all  her  might 
and  courage ;  and,  much  as  he  already  had,  and  little  as  she  had  to 
give,  it  made  his  own  seem  twice  as  much.  And  to  confess  the 
honest  truth,  he  needed  the  whole  ;  for  now  the  Minotaur,  turning 
suddenly  about,  caught  sight  of  Theseus,  and  instantly  lowered  his 
horribly  sharp  horns,  exactly  as  a  mad  bull  does  when  he  means  to 
rush  against  an  enemy.  At  the  same  time,  he  belched  forth  a  tre 
mendous  roar,  in  which  there  was  something  like  the  words  of 
human  language,  but  all  disjointed  and  shaken  to  pieces  by  passing 
through  the  gullet  of  a  miserably  enraged  brute. 

Theseus  could  only  guess  what  the  creature  intended  to  say,  and 
that  rather  by  his  gestures  than  his  words ;  for  the  Minotaur's  horns 
were  sharper  than  his  wits,  and  of  a  great  deal  more  service  to  him 
than  his  tongue.  But  probably  this  was  the  sense  of  what  he 
uttered :  — 

"  Ah,  wretch  of  a  human  being !  I  '11  stick  my  horns  through 
you,  and  toss  you  fifty  feet  high,  and  eat  you  up  the  moment  you 
come  down." 

"  Come  on,  then,  and  try  it !  "  was  all  that  Theseus  deigned  to 
reply ;  for  he  was  far  too  magnanimous  to  assault  his  enemy  with 
insolent  language. 

Without  more  words  on  either  side,  there  ensued  the  most  awful 
fight  between  Theseus  and  the  Minotaur  that  ever  happened  beneath 
the  sun  or  moon.  I  really  know  not  how  it  might  have  turned  out, 
if  the  monster,  in  his  first  headlong  rush  against  Theseus,  had  not 
missed  him,  by  a  hair's-breadth,  and  broken  one  of  his  horns  short 
off  against  the  stone  wall.  On  this  mishap,  he  bellowed  so  intoler 
ably  that  a  part  of  the  labyrinth  tumbled  down,  and  all  the  inhab 
itants  of  Crete  mistook  the  noise  for  an  uncommonly  heavy  thunder 
storm.  Smarting  with  the  pain,  he  galloped  around  the  open  space 
in  so  ridiculous  a  way  that  Theseus  laughed  at  it,  long  afterwards, 
though  not  precisely  at  the  moment.  After  this,  the  two  antago 
nists  stood  valiantly  up  to  one  another,  and  fought  sword  to  horn, 
for  a  long  while.  At  last,  the  Minotaur  made  a  run  at  Theseus, 


THE  MINOTAUR.  35 

grazed  his  left  side  with  his  horn,  and  flung  him  down ;  and  think 
ing  that  he  had  stabbed  him  to  the  heart,  he  cut  a  great  caper  in 
the  air,  opened  his  bull  mouth  from  ear  to  ear,  and  prepared  to 
snap  his  head  off.  But  Theseus  by  this  time  had  leaped  up,  and 
caught  the  monster  off  his  guard.  Fetching  a  sword-stroke  at  him 
with  all  his  force,  he  hit  him  fair  upon  the  neck,  and  made  his  bull 
head  skip  six  yards  from  his  human  body,  which  fell  down  flat  upon 
the  ground. 

So  now  the  battle  was  ended.  Immediately  the  moon  shone  out 
as  brightly  as  if  all  the  troubles  of  the  world,  and  all  the  wicked 
ness  and  the  ugliness  that  infest  human  life,  were  past  and  gone 
forever.  And  Theseus,  as  he  leaned  on  his  sword,  taking  breath, 
felt  another  twitch  of  the  silken  cord ;  for  all  through  the  terrible 
encounter  he  had  held  it  fast  in  his  left  hand.  Eager  to  let  Ariadne 
know  of  his  success,  he  followed  the  guidance  of  the  thread,  and 
soon  found  himself  at  the  entrance  of  the  labyrinth. 

"  Thou  hast  slain  the  monster,"  cried  Ariadne,  clasping  her 
hands. 

"  Thanks  to  thee,  dear  Ariadne,"  answered  Theseus,  "  I  return 
victorious." 

"  Then,"  said  Ariadne,  "  we  must  quickly  summon  thy  friends, 
and  get  them  and  thyself  on  board  the  vessel  before  dawn.  If 
morning  finds  thee  here,  my  father  will  avenge  the  Minotaur." 

To  make  my  story  short,  the  poor  captives  were  awakened,  and, 
hardly  knowing  whether  it  was  not  a  joyful  dream,  were  told  of 
what  Theseus  had  done,  and  that  they  must  set  sail  for  Athens 
before  daybreak.  Hastening  down  to  the  vessel,  they  all  clambered 
on  board,  except  Prince  Theseus,  who  lingered  behind  them,  on  the 
strand,  holding  Ariadne's  hand  clasped  in  his  own. 

"  Dear  maiden,"  said  he,  "  thou  wilt  surely  go  with  us.  Thou 
art  too  gentle  and  sweet  a  child  for  such  an  iron-hearted  father  as 
King  Minos.  He  cares  no  more  for  thee  than  a  granite  rock  cares 
for  the  little  flower  that  grows  in  one  of  its  crevices.  But  my 
father,  King  ^Egeus,  and  my  dear  mother,  ^Ethra,  and  all  the  fathers 
and  mothers  in  Athens,  and  all  the  sons  and  daughters  too,  will  love 
and  honor  thee  as  their  benefactress.  Come  with  us,  then ;  for 
King  Minos  will  be  very  angry  when  he  knows  what  thou  hast 
done." 


36  THE  MINOTAUR. 

Now,  some  low-minded  people,  who  pretend  to  tell  the  story  of 
Theseus  and  Ariadne,  have  the  face  to  say  that  this  royal  and  honor 
able  maiden  did  really  flee  away,  under  the  cover  of  the  night,  with 
this  young  stranger  whose  life  she  had  preserved.  They  say,  too, 
that  Prince  Theseus  (who  would  have  died  sooner  than  wrong  the 
meanest  creature  in  the  world)  ungratefully  deserted  Ariadne,  on  a 
solitary  island,  where  the  vessel  touched  on  its  voyage  to  Athens. 
But,  had  the  noble  Theseus  heard  these  falsehoods,  he  would  have 
served  their  slanderous  authors  as  he  served  the  Minotaur !  Here 
is  what  Ariadne  answered,  when  the  brave  Prince  of  Athens  besought 
her  to  accompany  him  :  — 

"  No,  Theseus,"  the  maiden  said,  pressing  his  hand,  and  then 
drawing  back  a  step  or  two,  "  I  cannot  go  with  you.  My  father  is 
old,  and  has  nobody  but  myself  to  love  him.  Hard  as  you  think 
his  heart  is,  it  would  break  to  lose  me.  At  first  King  Minos  will 
be  angry ;  but  he  will  soon  forgive  his  only  child ;  and,  by  and  by, 
he  will  rejoice,  I  know,  that  no  more  youths  and  maidens  must  come 
from  Athens  to  be  devoured  by  the  Minotaur.  I  have  saved  you, 
Theseus,  as  much  for  my  father's  sake  as  for  your  own.  Farewell ! 
Heaven  bless  you  !  " 

All  this  was  so  true,  and  so  maiden-like,  and  was  spoken  with  so 
sweet  a  dignity,  that  Theseus  would  have  blushed  to  urge  her  any 
longer.  Nothing  remained  for  him,  therefore,  but  to  bid  Ariadne 
an  affectionate  farewell,  and  go  on  board  the  vessel,  and  set  sail. 

In  a  few  moments  the  white  foam  was  boiling  up  before  their 
prow,  as  Prince  Theseus  and  his  companions  sailed  out  of  the  har 
bor  with  a  whistling  breeze  behind  them.  Talus,  the  brazen  giant, 
on  his  never-ceasing  sentinel's  march,  happened  to  be  approaching 
that  part  of  the  coast ;  and  they  saw  him,  by  the  glimmering  of  the 
moonbeams  on  his  polished  surface,  while  he  was  yet  a  great  way 
off.  As  the  figure  moved  like  clock-work,  however,  and  could  nei 
ther  hasten  his  enormous  strides  nor  retard  them,  he  arrived  at  the 
port  when  they  were  just  beyond  the  reach  of  his  club.  Neverthe 
less,  straddling  from  headland  to  headland,  as  his  custom  was,  Talus 
attempted  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  vessel,  and,  overreaching  himself, 
tumbled  at  full  length  into  the  sea,  which  splashed  high  over  his 
gigantic  shape,  as  when  an  iceberg  turns  a  somerset.  There  he  lies 
yet ;  and  whoever  desires  to  enrich  himself  by  means  of  brass  had 
better  go  thither  with  a  diving-bell,  and  fish  up  Talus. 


THE  MINOTAUR.  37 

On  the  homeward  voyage,  the  fourteen  youths  and  damsels  were 
in  excellent  spirits,  as  you  will  easily  suppose.  They  spent  most  of 
their  time  in  dancing,  unless  when  the  sidelong  breeze  made  the 
deck  slope  too  much.  In  due  season,  they  came  within  sight  of  the 
coast  of  Attica,  which  was  their  native  country.  But  here,  I  am 
grieved  to  tell  you,  happened  a  sad  misfortune. 

You  will  remember  (what  Theseus  unfortunately  forgot)  that  his 
father,  King  ^Egeus,  had  enjoined  it  upon  him  to  hoist  sunshine 
sails,  instead  of  black  ones,  in  case  he  should  overcome  the  Mino 
taur,  and  return  victorious.  In  the  joy  of  their  success,  however, 
and  amidst  the  sports,  dancing,  and  other  merriment,  with  which 
these  young  folks  wore  away  the  time,  they  never  once  thought 
whether  their  sails  were  black,  white,  or  rainbow  colored,  and,  in 
deed,  left  it  entirely  to  the  mariners  whether  they  had  any  sails  at 
all.  Thus  the  vessel  returned,  like  a  raven,  with  the  same  sable 
wings  that  had  wafted  her  away.  But  poor  King  ^Egeus,  day  after 
day,  infirm  as  he  was,  had  clambered  to  the  summit  of  a  cliff  that 
overhung  the  sea,  and  there  sat  watching  for  Prince  Theseus,  home 
ward  bound ;  and  no  sooner  did  he  behold  the  fatal  blackness  of 
the  sails,  than  he  concluded  that  his  dear  son,  whom  he  loved  so 
much,  and  felt  so  proud  of,  had  been  eaten  by  the  Minotaur.  He 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  living  any  longer ;  so,  first  flinging 
his  crown  and  sceptre  into  the  sea,  (useless  baubles  that  they  were 
to  him  now !)  King  ^Egeus  merely  stooped  forward,  and  fell  head 
long  over  the  cliff,  and  was  drowned,  poor  soul,  in  the  waves  that 
foamed  at  its  base  ! 

This  was  melancholy  news  for  Prince  Theseus,  who,  when  he 
stepped  ashore,  found  himself  king  of  all  the  country,  whether  he 
would  or  no ;  and  such  a  turn  of  fortune  was  enough  to  make  any 
young  man  feel  very  much  out  of  spirits.  However,  he  sent  for  his 
dear  mother  to  Athens,  and,  by  taking  her  advice  in  matters  of 
state,  became  a  very  excellent  monarch,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by 
his  people. 


A  GREAT  while  ago,  when  the  world  was  full  of  wonders,  there 
lived  an  earth-born  Giant  named  Antaeus,  and  a  million  or  more  of 
curious  little  earth-born  people,  who  were  called  Pygmies.  This 
Giant  and  these  Pygmies  being  children  of  the  same  mother  (that 
is  to  say,  our  good  old  Grandmother  Earth),  were  all  brethren  and 
dwelt  together  in  a  very  friendly  and  affectionate  manner,  far,  far 
off,  in  the  middle  of  hot  Africa.  The  Pygmies  were  so  small,  and 
there  were  so  many  sandy  deserts  and  such  high  mountains  between 
them  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  that  nobody  could  get  a  peep  at 
them  oftener  than  once  in  a  hundred  years.  As  for  the  Giant,  be 
ing  of  a  very  lofty  stature,  it  was  easy  enough  to  see  him,  but 
safest  to  keep  out  of  his  sight. 

Among  the  Pygmies,  I  suppose,  if  one  of  them  grew  to  the 
height  of  six  or  eight  inches,  he  was  reckoned  a  prodigiously  tall 
man.  It  must  have  been  very  pretty  to  behold  their  little  cities, 
with  streets  two  or  three  feet  wide,  paved  with  the  smallest  pebbles, 
and  bordered  by  habitations  about  as  big  as  a  squirrel's  cage.  The 
king's  palace  attained  to  the  stupendous  magnitude  of  Periwinkle's 
baby-house,  and  stood  in  the  centre  of  a  spacious  square,  which 
could  hardly  have  been  covered  by  our  hearth-rug.  Their  principal 
temple,  or  cathedral,  was  as  lofty  as  yonder  bureau,  and  was  looked 
upon  as  a  wonderfully  sublime  and  magnificent  edifice.  All  these 
structures  were  built  neither  of  stone  nor  wood.  They  were  neatly 


THE  PYGMIES.  39 

plastered  together  by  the  Pygmy  workmen,  pretty  much  like  bird's- 
nests,  out  of  straw,  feathers,  eggshells,  and  other  small  bits  of  stuff, 
with  stiff  clay  instead  of  mortar  ;  and  when  the  hot  sun  had  dried 
them,  they  were  just  as  snug  and  comfortable  as  a  Pygmy  could 
desire. 

The  country  round  about  was  conveniently  laid  out  in  fields,  the 
largest  of  which  was  nearly  of  the  same  extent  as  one  of  Sweet 
Fern's  flower-beds.  Here  the  Pygmies  used  to  plant  wheat  and 
other  kinds  of  grain,  which,  when  it  grew  up  and  ripened,  over 
shadowed  these  tiny  people,  as  the  pines,  and  the  oaks,  and  the 
walnut  and  chestnut-trees  overshadow  you  and  me,  when  we  walk 
in  our  own  tracts  of  woodland.  At  harvest-time,  they  were  forced 
to  go  with  their  little  axes  and  cut  down  the  grain,  exactly  as  a 
wood-cutter  makes  a  clearing  in  the  forest ;  and  when  a  stalk  of 
wheat,  with  its  overburdened  top,  chanced  to  come  crashing  down 
upon  an  unfortunate  Pygmy,  it  was  apt  to  be  a  very  sad  affair.  If 
it  did  not  smash  him  all  to  pieces,  at  least,  I  am  sure,  it  must  have 
made  the  poor  little  fellow's  head  ache.  And  oh,  my  stars  !  if  the 
fathers  and  mothers  were  so  small,  what  must  the  children  and 
babies  have  been  ?  A  whole  family  of  them  might  have  been  put 
to  bed  in  a  shoe,  or  have  crept  into  an  old  glove,  and  played  at 
hide-and-seek  in  its  thumb  and  fingers.  You  might  have  hidden  a 
year-old  baby  under  a  thimble. 

Now  these  funny  Pygmies,  as  I  told  you  before,  had  a  Giant  for 
their  neighbor  and  brother,  who  was  bigger,  if  possible,  than  they 
were  little.  He  was  so  very  tall  that  he  carried  a  pine-tree,  which 
was  eight  feet  through  the  butt,  for  a  walking-stick.  It  took  a  far- 
sighted  Pygmy,  I  can  assure  you,  to  discern  his  summit  without  the 
help  of  a  telescope  ;  and  sometimes,  in  misty  weather,  they  could 
not  see  his  upper  half,  but  only  his  long  legs,  which  seemed  to  be 
striding  about  by  themselves.  But  at  noonday,  in  a  clear  atmos 
phere,  when  the  sun  shone  brightly  over  him,  the  Giant  Antaeus 
presented  a  very  grand  spectacle.  There  he  used  to  stand,  a  per 
fect  mountain  of  a  man,  with  his  great  countenance  smiling  down 
upon  his  little  brothers,  and  his  one  vast  eye  (which  was  as  big  as 
a  cartwheel,  and  placed  right  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead)  giving 
a  friendly  wink  to  the  whole  nation  at  once. 

The  Pygmies  loved  to  talk  with  Antaeus  ;  and  fifty  times  a  day, 


40  THE  PYGMIES. 

one  or  another  of  them  would  turn  up  his  head,  and  shout  through 
the  hollow  of  his  fists,  "  Halloo,  brother  Antaeus !  How  are  you, 
my  good  fellow  ? "  and  when  the  small,  distant  squeak  of  their 
voices  reached  his  ear,  the  Giant  would  make  answer,  "  Pretty  well, 
brother  Pygmy,  I  thank  you,"  in  a  thunderous  roar  that  would  have 
shaken  down  the  walls  of  their  strongest  temple,  only  that  it  came 
from  so  far  aloft. 

It  was  a  happy  circumstance  that  AntaBus  was  the  Pygmy  people's 
friend ;  for  there  was  more  strength  in  his  little  finger  than  in  ten 
million  of  such  bodies  as  theirs.  If  he  had  been  as  ill-natured  to 
them  as  he  was  to  everybody  else,  he  might  have  beaten  down  their 
biggest  city  at  one  kick,  and  hardly  have  known  that  he  did  it. 
With  the  tornado  of  his  breath,  he  could  have  stripped  the  roofs 
from  a  hundred  dwellings,  and  sent  thousands  of  the  inhabitants 
whirling  through  the  air.  He  might  have  set  his  immense  foot  upon 
a  multitude ;  and  when  he  took  it  up  again,  there  would  have  been 
a  pitiful  sight,  to  be  sure.  But,  being  the  son  of  Mother  Earth,  as 
they  likewise  were,  the  Giant  gave  them  his  brotherly  kindness,  and 
loved  them  with  as  big  a  love  as  it  was  possible  to  feel  for  creatures 
so  very  small.  And,  on  their  parts,  the  Pygmies  loved  Antaeus  with 
as  much  affection  as  their  tiny  hearts  could  hold.  He  was  always 
ready  to  do  them  any  good  offices  that  lay  in  his  power ;  as,  for  ex 
ample,  when  they  wanted  a  breeze  to  turn  their  windmills,  the  Giant 
would  set  all  the  sails  a-going  with  the  mere  natural  respiration  of 
his  lungs.  When  the  sun  was  too  hot,  he  often  sat  himself  down, 
and  let  his  shadow  fall  over  the  kingdom,  from  one  frontier  to  the 
other ;  and  as  for  matters  in  general,  he  was  wise  enough  to  let 
them  alone,  and  leave  the  Pygmies  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  — 
which,  after  all,  is  about  the  best  thing  that  great  people  can  do  for 
little  ones. 

In  short,  as  I  said  before,  Antaeus  loved  the  Pygmies,  and  the 
Pygmies  loved  Antaeus.  The  Giant's  life  being  as  long  as  his  body 
was  large,  while  the  lifetime  of  a  Pygmy  was  but  a  span,  this  friendly 
intercourse  had  been  going  on  for  innumerable  generations  and  ages. 
It  was  written  about  in  the  Pygmy  histories,  and  talked  about  in 
their  ancient  traditions.  The  most  venerable  and  white-bearded 
Pygmy  had  never  heard  of  a  time,  even  in  his  greatest  of  grand 
father's  days,  when  the  Giant  was  not  their  enormous  friend.  Once, 


THE  PYGMIES.  41 

to  be  sure  (as  was  recorded  on  an  obelisk,  three  feet  high,  erected 
on  the  place  of  the  catastrophe),  Antaeus  sat  down  upon  about  five 
thousand  Pygmies,  who  were  assembled  at  a  military  review.  But 
this  was  one  of  those  unlucky  accidents  for  which  nobody  is  to 
blame ;  so  that  the  small  folks  never  took  it  to  heart,  and  only  re 
quested  the  Giant  to  be  careful  forever  afterwards  to  examine  the 
acre  of  ground  where  he  intended  to  squat  himself. 

It  is  a  very  pleasant  picture  to  imagine  Antaeus  standing  among 
the  Pygmies,  like  the  spire  of  the  tallest  cathedral  that  ever  was 
built,  while  they  ran  about  like  pismires  at  his  feet ;  and  to  think 
that,  in.  spite  of  their  difference  in  size,  there  were  affection  and 
sympathy  between  them  and  him  !  Indeed,  it  has  always  seemed  to 
me  that  the  Giant  needed  the  little  people  more  than  the  Pygmies 
needed  the  Giant.  For,  unless  they  had  been  his  neighbors  and 
well-wishers,  and,  as  we  may  say,  his  playfellows,  Antaeus  would  not 
have  had  a  single  friend  in  the  world.  No  other  being  like  himself 
had  ever  been  created.  No  creature  of  his  own  size  had  ever  talked 
with  him,  in  thunder-like  accents,  face  to  face.  When  he  stood 
with  his  head  among  the  clouds.;  he  was  quite  alone,  and  had  been 
so  for  hundreds  of  years,  and  would  be  so  forever.  Even  if  he  had 
met  another  Giant,  Antaeus  would  have  fancied  the  world  not  big 
enough  for  two  such  vast  personages,  and,  instead  of  being  friends 
with  him,  would  have  fought  him  till  one  of  the  two  was  killed. 
But  with  the  Pygmies  he  was  the  most  sportive,  and  humorous,  and 
merry-hearted,  and  sweet-tempered  old  Giant  that  ever  washed  his 
face  in  a  wet  cloud. 

His  little  friends,  like  all  other  small  people,  had  a  great  opinion 
of  their  own  importance,  and  used  to  assume  quite  a  patronizing  air 
towards  the  Giant. 

"  Poor  creature ! "  they  said  one  to  another.  "  He  has  a  very 
dull  time  of  it,  all  by  himself;  and  we  ought  not  to  grudge  wasting 
a  little  of  our  precious  time  to  amuse  him.  He  is  not  half  so  bright 
as  we  are,  to  be  sure ;  and,  for  that  reason,  he  needs  us  to  look  after 
his  comfort  and  happiness.  Let  us  be  kind  to  the  old  fellow.  Why, 
if  Mother  Earth  had  not  been  very  kind  to  ourselves,  we  might  all 
have  been  Giants  too." 

On  all  their  holidays,  the  Pygmies  had  excellent  sport  with  An 
taeus.  He  often  stretched  himself  out  at  full  length  on  the  ground, 


42  THE  PYGMIES. 

where  he  looked  like  the  long  ridge  of  a  hill ;  and  it  was  a  good 
hour's  walk,  no  doubt,  for  a  short-legged  Pygmy  to  journey  from 
head  to  foot  of  the  Giant.  He  would  lay  down  his  great  hand  flat 
on  the  grass,  and  challenge  the  tallest  of  them  to  clamber  upon  it, 
and  straddle  from  finger  to  finger.  So  fearless  were  they,  that  they 
made  nothing  of  creeping  in  among  the  folds  of  his  garments. 
When  his  head  lay  sidewise  on  the  earth,  they  would  march  boldly 
up,  and  peep  into  the  great  cavern  of  his  mouth,  and  take  it  all  as 
a  joke  (as  indeed  it  was  meant)  when  Antaeus  gave  a  sudden  snap 
with  his  jaws,  as  if  he  were  going  to  swallow  fifty  of  them  at  once. 
You  would  have  laughed  to  see  the  children  dodging  in  and  out 
among  his  hair,  or  swinging  from  his  beard.  It  is  impossible  to 
tell  half  of  the  funny  tricks  that  they  played  with  their  huge 
comrade ;  but  I  do  not  know  that  anything  was  more  curious  than 
when  a  party  of  boys  were  seen  running  races  on  his  forehead,  to 
try  which  of  them  could  get  first  round  the  circle  of  his  one  great 
eye.  It  was  another  favorite  feat  with  them  to  march  along  the 
bridge  of  his  nose,  and  jump  down  upon  his  upper  lip. 

If  the  truth  must  be  told,  they  were  sometimes  as  troublesome  to 
the  Giant  as  a  swarm  of  ants  or  mosquitoes,  especially  as  they  had 
a  fondness  for  mischief,  and  liked  to  prick  his  skin  with  their  little 
swords  and  lances,  to  see  how  thick  and  tough  it  was.  But  Antaeus 
took  it  all  kindly  enough ;  although,  once  in  a  while,  when  he  hap 
pened  to  be  sleepy,  he  would  grumble  out  a  peevish  word  or  two, 
like  the  muttering  of  a  tempest,  and  ask  them  to  have  done  with 
their  nonsense.  A  great  deal  oftener,  however,  he  watched  their 
merriment  and  gambols  until  his  huge,  heavy,  clumsy  wits  were 
completely  stirred  up  by  them ;  and  then  would  he  roar  out  such  a 
tremendous  volume  of  immeasurable  laughter,  that  the  whole  nation 
of  Pygmies  had  to  put  their  hands  to  their  ears,  else  it  would  cer 
tainly  have  deafened  them. 

"  Ho  !  ho !  ho ! "  quoth  the  Giant,  shaking  his  mountainous  sides. 
*'  What  a  funny  thing  it  is  to  be  little  !  If  I  were  not  Antaeus,  I 
should  like  to  be  a  Pygmy,  just  for  the  joke's  sake." 

The  Pygmies  had  but  one  thing  to  trouble  them  in  the  world. 
They  were  constantly  at  war  with  the  cranes,  and  had  always  been 
so,  ever  since  the  long-lived  giant  could  remember.  From  time  to 
time  very  terrible  battles  had  been  fought,  in  which  sometimes  the 


THE  GIANT   AND  THE  PYGMIES.     Page  45. 


THE  PYGMIES.  45 

little  men  won  the  victory,  and  sometimes  the  cranes.  According 
to  some  historians,  the  Pygmies  used  to  go  to  the  battle,  mounted  on 
the  backs  of  goats  and  rams ;  but  such  animals  as  these  must  have 
been  far  too  big  for  Pygmies  to  ride  upon ;  so  that,  I  rather  sup 
pose,  they  rode  on  squirrel-back,  or  rabbit-back,  or  rat-back,  or 
perhaps  got  upon  hedgehogs,  whose  prickly  quills  would  be  very 
terrible  to  the  enemy.  However  this  might  be,  and  whatever  crea 
tures  the  Pygmies  rode  upon,  I  do  not  doubt  that  they  made  a 
formidable  appearance,  armed  with  a  sword  and  spear,  and  bow  and. 
arrow,  blowing  their  tiny  trumpet,  and  shouting  their  little  war-cry. 
They  never  failed  to  exhort  one  another  to  fight  bravely,  and  recol 
lect  that  the  world  had  its  eyes  upon  them ;  although,  in  simple 
truth,  the  only  spectator  was  the  Giant  Antaeus,  with  his  one,  great, 
stupid  eye,  in  the  middle  of  his  forehead. 

When  the  two  armies  joined  battle,  the  cranes  would  rush  for 
ward,  flapping  their  wings  and  stretching  out  their  necks,  and  would 
perhaps  snatch  up  some  of  the  Pygmies  crosswise  in  their  beaks. 
Whenever  this  happened,  it  was  truly  an  awful  spectacle  to  see  those 
little  men  of  might  kicking  and  sprawling  in  the  air,  and  at  last  dis 
appearing  down  the  crane's  long,  crooked  throat,  swallowed  up  alive. 
A  hero,  you  know,  must  hold  himself  in  readiness  for  any  kind  of 
fate ;  and  doubtless  the  glory  of  the  thing  was  a  consolation  to  him, 
even  in  the  crane's  gizzard.  If  Anta3us  observed  that  the  battle  was 
going  hard  against  his  little  allies,  he  generally  stopped  laughing, 
and  ran  with  mile-long  strides  to  their  assistance,  flourishing  his 
club  aloft  and  shouting  at  the  cranes,  who  quacked  and  croaked, 
and  retreated  as  fast  as  they  could.  Then  the  Pygmy  army  would 
march  homeward  in  triumph,  attributing  the  victory  entirely  to  their 
own  valor,  and  to  the  warlike  skill  and  strategy  of  whomsoever  hap 
pened  to  be  captain  general ;  and  for  a  tedious  while  afterwards, 
nothing  would  be  heard  of  but  grand  processions,  and  public  ban 
quets,  and  brilliant  illuminations,  and  shows  of  waxwork,  with  like 
nesses  of  the  distinguished  officers  as  small  as  life. 

In  the  above-described  warfare,  if  a  Pygmy  chanced  to  pluck  out 
a  crane's  tail-feather,  it  proved  a  very  great  feather  in  his  cap. 
Once  or  twice,  if  you  will  believe  me,  a  little  man  was  made  chief 
ruler  of  the  nation  for  no  other  merit  in  the  world  than  bringing 
home  such  a  feather. 


46  THE  PYGMIES. 

But  I  have  now  said  enough  to  let  you  see  what  a  gallant  little 
people  these  were,  and  how  happily  they  and  their  forefathers,  for 
nobody  knows  how  many  generations,  had  lived  with  the  immeasur 
able  Giant  Antaeus.  In  the  remaining  part  of  the  story,  I  shall  tell 
you  of  a  far  more  astonishing  battle  than  any  that  was  fought  be 
tween  the  Pygmies  and  the  cranes. 

One  day  the  mighty  Antaeus  was  lolling  at  full  length  among  his 
little  friends.  His  pine-tree  walking-stick  lay  on  the  ground  close 
by  his  side.  His  head  was  in  one  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  his  feet 
extended  across  the  boundaries  of  another  part ;  and  he  was  taking 
whatever  comfort  he  could  get,  while  the  Pygmies  scrambled  over 
him,  and  peeped  into  his  cavernous  mouth,  and  played  among  his 
hair.  Sometimes,  for  a  minute  or  two,  the  Giant  dropped  asleep, 
and  snored  like  the  rush  of  a  whirlwind.  During  one  of  these  little 
bits  of  slumber,  a  Pygmy  chanced  to  climb  upon  his  shoulder,  and 
took  a  view  around  the  horizon,  as  from  the  summit  of  a  hill ;  and 
he  beheld  something,  a  long  way  off,  which  made  him  rub  the  bright 
specks  of  his  eyes,  and  look  sharper  than  before.  At  first  he  mis 
took  it  for  a  mountain,  and  wondered  how  it  had  grown  up  so  sud 
denly  out  of  the  earth.  But  soon  he  saw  the  mountain  move.  As 
it  came  nearer  and  nearer,  what  should  it  turn  out  to  be  but  a  hu 
man  shape,  not  so  big  as  Antaeus,  it  is  true,  although  a  very  enor 
mous  figure,  in  comparison  with  Pygmies,  and  a  vast  deal  bigger 
than  the  men  whom  we  see  nowadays. 

When  the  Pygmy  was  quite  satisfied  that  his  eyes  had  not  de 
ceived  him,  he  scampered,  as  fast  as  his  legs  would  carry  him, 
to  the  Giant's  ear,  and  stooping  over  its  cavity,  shouted  lustily 
into  it,  — 

"  Halloo,  brother  Antaeus !  Get  up  this  minute,  and  take  your 
pine-tree  walking-stick  in  your  hand.  Here  comes  another  Giant  to 
have  a  tussle  with  you." 

"  Poh,  poh  !  "  grumbled  Antaeus,  only  half  awake.  "  None  of 
your  nonsense,  my  little  fellow  !  Don't  you  see  I  'm  sleepy.  There 
is  not  a  Giant  on  earth  for  whom  I  would  take  the  trouble  to  get  up." 

But  the  Pygmy  looked  again,  and  now  perceived  that  the  stran 
ger  was  coming  directly  towards  the  prostrate  form  of  Antaeus. 
With  every  step  he  looked  less  like  a  blue  mountain,  and  more  like 
an  immensely  large  man.  He  was  soon  so  nigh,  that  there  could  be 


THE   PYGMIES.  47 

no  possible  mistake  about  the  matter.  There  he  was,  with  the  sun 
flaming  on  his  golden  helmet,  and  flashing  from  his  polished  breast 
plate  ;  he  had  a  sword  by  his  side,  and  a  lion's  skin  over  his  back, 
and  on  his  right  shoulder  he  carried  a  club,  which  looked  bulkier 
and  heavier  than  the  pine-tree  walking-stick  of  Antaeus. 

By  this  time,  the  whole  nation  of  Pygmies  had  seen  the  new  won 
der,  and  a  million  of  them  set  up  a  shout,  all  together ;  so  that  it 
really  made  quite  an  audible  squeak. 

"  Get  up,  Antaeus  !  Bestir  yourself,  you  lazy  old  Giant !  Here, 
comes  another  Giant,  as  strong  as  you  are,  to  fight  with  you." 

"  Nonsense,  nonsense  !  "  growled  the  sleepy  Giant.  "  I  '11  have 
my  nap  out,  come  who  may." 

Still  the  stranger  drew  nearer ;  and  now  the  Pygmies  could 
plainly  discern  that,  if  his  stature  were  less  lofty  than  the  Giant's, 
yet  his  shoulders  were  even  broader.  And,  in  truth,  what  a  pair 
of  shoulders  they  must  have  been  !  As  I  told  you,  a  long  while 
ago,  they  once  upheld  the  sky.  The  Pygmies,  being  ten  times  as 
vivacious  as  their  great  numskull  of  a  brother,  could  not  abide  the 
Giant's  slow  movements,  and  were  determined  to  have  him  on  his 
feet.  So  they  kept  shouting  to  him,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
prick  him  with  their  swords. 

"  Get  up,  get  up,  get  up  !  "  they  cried.  "  Up  with  you,  lazy 
bones !  The  strange  Giant's  club  is  bigger  than  your  own,  his 
shoulders  are  the  broadest,  and  we  think  him  the  stronger  of  the 
two." 

Anta3us  could  not  endure  to  have  it  said  that  any  mortal  was  half 
so  mighty  as  himself.  This  latter  remark  of  the  Pygmies  pricked 
him  deeper  than  their  swords  ;  and,  sitting  up,  in  rather  a  sulky 
humor,  he  gave  a  gape  of  several  yards  wide,  rubbed  his  eye,  and 
finally  turned  his  stupid  head  in  the  direction  whither  his  little 
friends  were  eagerly  pointing. 

No  sooner  did  he  set  eye  on  the  stranger  than,  leaping  on  his  feet, 
and  seizing  his  walking-stick,  he  strode  a  mile  or  two  to  meet  him  ; 
all  the  while  brandishing  the  sturdy  pine-tree,  so  that  it  whistled 
through  the  air. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  thundered  the  Giant.  "  And  what  do  you 
want  in  my  dominions  ?  " 

There  was  one  strange  thing  about  AntaBus,  of  which  I  have  not 


48  THE  PYGMIES. 

yet  told  you,  lest,  hearing  of  so  many  wonders  all  in  a  lump,  you 
might  not  believe  much  more  than  half  of  them.  You  are  to  know, 
then,  that  whenever  this  redoubtable  Giant  touched  the  ground, 
either  with  his  hand,  his  foot,  or  any  other  part  of  his  body,  he  grew 
stronger  than  ever  he  had  been  before.  The  Earth,  you  remember, 
was  his  mother,  and  was  very  fond  of  him,  as  being  almost  the  big 
gest  of  her  children  ;  and  so  she  took  this  method  of  keeping  him 
always  in  full  vigor.  Some  persons  affirm  that  he  grew  ten  times 
stronger  at  every  touch  ;  others  say  that  it  was  only  twice  as  strong. 
But  only  think  of  it !  Whenever  Antaeus  took  a  walk,  supposing  it 
were  but  ten  miles,  and  that  he  stepped  a  hundred  yards  at  a  stride, 
you  may  try  to  cipher  out  how  much  mightier  he  was,  on  sitting 
down  again,  than  when  he  first  started.  And  whenever  he  flung 
himself  on  the  earth  to  take  a  little  repose,  even  if  he  got  up  the 
very  next  instant,  he  would  be  as  strong  as  exactly  ten  just  such 
giants  as  his  former  self.  It  was  well  for  the  world  that  Antaeus 
happened  to  be  of  a  sluggish  disposition,  and  liked  ease  better  than 
exercise  ;  for,  if  he  had  frisked  about  like  the  Pygmies,  and  touched 
the  earth  as  often  as  they  did,  he  would  long  ago  have  been  strong 
enough  to  pull  down  the  sky  about  people's  ears.  But  these  great 
lubberly  fellows  resemble  mountains,  not  only  in  bulk,  but  in  their 
disinclination  to  move. 

Any  other  mortal  man,  except  the  very  one  whom  Antaeus  had 
now  encountered,  would  have  been  half  frightened  to  death  by  the 
Giant's  ferocious  aspect  and  terrible  voice.  But  the  stranger  did 
not  seem  at  all  disturbed.  He  carelessly  lifted  his  club,  and  bal 
anced  it  in  his  hand,  measuring  Antaeus  with  his  eye  from  head  to 
foot,  not  as  if  wonder-smitten  at  his  stature,  but  as  if  he  had  seen  a 
great  many  Giants  before,  and  this  was  by  no  means  the  biggest  of 
them.  In  fact,  if  the  Giant  had  been  no  bigger  than  the  Pygmies 
(who  stood  pricking  up  their  ears,  and  looking  and  listening  to 
what  was  going  forward),  the  stranger  could  not  have  been  less 
afraid  of  him. 

.  "  Who  are  you,  I  say  ?  "  roared  Antaeus  again.  "  What 's  your 
name  ?  Why  do  you  come  hither  ?  Speak,  you  vagabond,  or  I  '11 
try  the  thickness  of  your  skull  with  my  walking-stick." 

"  You  are  a  very  discourteous  Giant,"  answered  the  stranger, 
quietly,  "  and  I  shall  probably  have  to  teach  you  a  little  civility, 


THE  PYGMIES.  49 

before  we  part.  As  for  my  name,  it  is  Hercules.  I  have  come 
hither  because  this  is  my  most  convenient  road  to  the  garden  of  the 
Hesperides,  whither  I  am  going  to  get  three  of  the  golden  apples 
for  King  Eurystheus." 

"  Caitiff,  you  shall  go  no  farther  !  "  bellowed  Antaeus,  putting  on 
a  grimmer  look  than  before  ;  for  he  had  heard  of  the  mighty  Her 
cules,  and  hated  him  because  he  was  said  to  be  so  strong.  "  Neither 
shall  you  go  back  whence  you  came  ! " 

"  How  will  you  prevent  me,"  asked  Hercules,  "  from  going  whither 
I  please  ?  " 

"  By  hitting  you  a  rap  with  this  pine-tree  here,"  shouted  Antaeus, 
scowling  so  that  he  made  himself  the  ugliest  monster  in  Africa. 
"  I  am  fifty  times  stronger  than  you ;  and,  now  that  I  stamp  my 
foot  upon  the  ground,  I  am  five  hundred  times  stronger !  I  am 
ashamed  to  kill  such  a  puny  little  dwarf  as  you  seem  to  be.  I  will 
make  a  slave  of  you,  and  you  shall  likewise  be  the  slave  of  my 
brethren,  here,  the  Pygmies.  So  throw  down  your  club  and  your 
other  weapons  ;  and  as  for  that  lion's  skin,  I  intend  to  have  a  pair 
of  gloves  made  of  it." 

"  Come  and  take  it  off  my  shoulders,  then,"  answered  Hercules, 
lifting  his  club. 

Then  the  Giant,  grinning  with  rage,  strode  tower-like  towards  the 
stranger  (ten  times  strengthened  at  every  step),  and  fetched  a  mon 
strous  blow  at  him  with  his  pine-tree,  which  Hercules  caught  upon 
his  club ;  and  being  more  skilful  than  Antaeus,  he  paid  him  back 
such  a  rap  upon  the  sconce,  that  down  tumbled  the  great  lumbering 
man-mountain,  flat  upon  the  ground.  The  poor  little  Pygmies  (who 
really  never  dreamed  that  anybody  in  the  world  was  half  so  strong 
as  their  brother  Antaeus)  were  a  good  deal  dismayed  at  this.  But 
no  sooner  was  the  Giant  down,  than  up  he  bounced  again,  with  ten 
fold  might,  and  such  a  furious  visage  as  was  horrible  to  behold. 
He  aimed  another  blow  at  Hercules,  but  struck  awry,  being  blinded 
with  wrath,  and  only  hit  his  poor,  innocent  Mother  Earth,  who 
groaned  and  trembled  at  the  stroke.  His  pine-tree  went  so  deep 
into  the  ground,  and  stuck  there  so  fast,  that  before  Antaeus  could 
get  it  out,  Hercules  brought  down  his  club  across  his  shoulders  with 
a  mighty  thwack,  which  made  the  Giant  roar  as  if  all  sorts  of  intol' 
erable  noises  had  come  screeching  and  rumbling  out  of  his  immeas- 


50  THE  PYGMIES. 

arable  lungs  in  that  one  cry.  Away  it  went,  over  mountains  and 
valleys,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  was  heard  on  the  other  side  of  the 
African  deserts. 

As  for  the  Pygmies,  their  capital  city  was  laid  in  ruins  by  the 
concussion  and  vibration  of  the  air ;  and,  though  there  was  uproar 
enough  without  their  help,  they  all  set  up  a  shriek  out  of  three 
millions  of  little  throats,  fancying,  no  doubt,  that  they  swelled  the 
Giant's  bellow  by  at  least  ten  times  as  much.  Meanwhile  Antaeus 
had  scrambled  upon  his  feet  again,  and  pulled  his  pine-tree  out  of 
the  earth  ;  and,  all  aflame  with  fury,  and  more  outrageously  strong 
than  ever,  he  ran  at  Hercules,  and  brought  down  another  blow. 

"  This  time,  rascal,"  shouted  he,  "  you  shall  not  escape  me." 

But  once  more  Hercules  warded  off  the  stroke  with  his  club,  and 
the  Giant's  pine-tree  was  shattered  into  a  thousand  splinters,  most 
of  which  flew  among  the  Pygmies,  and  did  them  more  mischief  than 
I  like  to  think  about.  Before  Antaeus  could  get  out  of  the  Avay, 
Hercules  let  drive  again,  and  gave  him  another  knock-down  blow, 
which  sent  him  heels  over  head,  but  served  only  to  increase  his 
already  enormous  and  insufferable  strength.  As  for  his  rage,  there 
is  no  telling  what  a  fiery  furnace  it  had  now  got  to  be.  His  one 
eye  was  nothing  but  a  circle  of  red  flame.  Having  now  no  weapons 
but  his  fists,  he  doubled  them  up  (each  bigger  than  a  hogshead), 
smote  one  against  the  other,  and  danced  up  and  down  with  absolute 
frenzy,  flourishing  his  immense  arms  about,  as  if  he  meant  not 
merely  to  kill  Hercules,  but  to  smash  the  whole  world  to  pieces. 

"  Come  on  !  "  roared  this  thundering  Giant.  "  Let  me  hit  you 
but  one  box  on  the  ear,  and  you'll  never  have  the  headache  again." 

Now  Hercules  (though  strong  enough,  as  you  already  know,  to 
hold  the  sky  up)  began  to  be  sensible  that  he  should  never  win  the 
victory,  if  he  kept  on  knocking  Antaeus  down ;  for  by  and  by,  if  he 
hit  him  such  hard  blows,  the  Giant  would  inevitably,  by  the  help  of 
his  Mother  Earth,  become  stronger  than  the  mighty  Hercules  him 
self.  So,  throwing  down  his  club,  with  which  he  had  fought  so 
many  dreadful  battles,  the  hero  stood  ready  to  receive  his  antagonist 
with  naked  arms. 

"  Step  forward,"  cried  he.  "  Since  I  've  broken  your  pine-tree, 
we'll  try  which  is  the  better  man  at  a  wrestling-match." 

"  Aha !  then  I  '11  soon  satisfy  you,"  shouted  the  Giant ;  for,  if 


THE   BATTLE   OF   THE   GIANTS.     Page  53. 


THIS  PYGMIES.  53 

there  was  one  thing  on  which  he  prided  himself  more  than  another, 
it  was  his  skill  in  wrestling.  "  Villain,  I  '11  fling  you  where  you  can 
never  pick  yourself  up  again." 

On  came  Antaeus,  hopping  and  capering  with  the  scorching  heat 
of  his  rage,  and  getting  new  vigor  wherewith  to  wreak  his  passion, 
every  tune  he  hopped.  But  Hercules,  you  must  understand,  was 
wiser  than  this  numskull  of  a  Giant,  and  had  thought  of  a  way  to 
fight  him,  —  huge,  earth-born  monster  that  he  was,  —  and  to  con 
quer  him,  too,  in  spite  of  all  that  his  Mother  Earth  could  do  for 
him.  Watching  his  opportunity,  as  the  mad  Giant  made  a  rush  at 
him,  Hercules  caught  him  round  the  middle  with  both  hands,  lifted 
him  hio'h  into  the  air,  and  held  him  aloft  overhead. 

O  * 

Just  imagine  it,  my  dear  little  friends  !  What  a  spectacle  it  must 
have  been,  to  see  this  monstrous  fellow  sprawling  in  the  air,  face 
downward,  kicking  out  his  long  legs  and  wriggling  his  whole  vast 
body,  like  a  baby  when  its  father  holds  it  at  arm's-length  towards 
the  ceiling. 

But  the  most  wonderful  thing  was,  that,  as  soon  as  Anta3us  was 
fairly  off  the  earth,  he  began  to  lose  the  vigor  which  he  had  gained 
by  touching  it.  Hercules  very  soon  perceived  that  his  troublesome 
enemy  was  growing  weaker,  both  because  he  struggled  and  kicked 
with  less  violence,  and  because  the  thunder  of  his  big  voice  subsided 
into  a  grumble.  The  truth  was,  that,  unless  the  Giant  touched 
Mother  Earth  as  often  as  once  in  five  minutes,  not  only  his  over 
grown  strength,  but  the  very  breath  of  his  life,  would  depart  from 
him.  Hercules  had  guessed  this  secret ;  and  it  may  be  well  for  us 
all  to  remember  it,  in  case  we  should  ever  have  to  fight  a  battle  with 
a  fellow  like  Antseus.  For  these  earth-born  creatures  are  only  diffi 
cult  to  conquer  on  their  own  ground,  but  may  easily  be  managed 
if  we  can  contrive  to  lift  them  into  a  loftier  and  purer  region.  So 
it  proved  with  the  poor  Giant,  whom  I  am  really  a  little  sorry  for, 
notwithstanding  his  uncivil  way  of  treating  strangers  who  came  to 
visit  him. 

When  his  strength  and  breath  were  quite  gone,  Hercules  gave 
his  huge  body  a  toss,  and  flung  it  about  a  mile  off,  where  it  fell 
heavily,  and  lay  with  no  more  motion  than  a  sand-hill.  It  was  too 
late  for  the  Giant's  Mother  Earth  to  help  him  now;  and  I  should 
not' wonder  if  his  ponderous  bones  were  lying  on  the  same  spot  to 


54  THE  PYGMIES. 

this  very  day,  and  were  mistaken  for  those  of  an  uncommonly  large 
elephant. 

But,  alas  me !  What  a  wailing  did  the  poor  little  Pygmies  set 
up  when  they  saw  their  enormous  brother  treated  in  this  terrible 
manner !  If  Hercules  heard  their  shrieks,  however,  he  took  no 
notice,  and  perhaps  fancied  them  only  the  shrill,  plaintive  twittering 
of  small  birds  that  had  been  frightened  from  their  nests  by  the 
uproar  of  the  battle  between  himself  and  Antaeus.  Indeed,  his 
thoughts  had  been  so  much  taken  up  with  the  Giant,  that  he  had 
never  once  looked  at  the  Pygmies,  nor  even  knew  that  there  was 
such  a  funny  little  nation  in  the  world.  And  now,  as  he  had  tra 
velled  a  good  way,  and  was  also  rather  weary  with  his  exertions  in 
the  fight,  he  spread  out  his  lion's  skin  on  the  ground,  and  reclining 
himself  upon  it,  fell  fast  asleep. 

As  soon  as  the  Pygmies  saw  Hercules  preparing  for  a  nap,  they 
nodded  their  little  heads  at  one  another,  and  winked  with  their  little 
eyes.  And  when  his  deep,  regular  breathing  gave  them  notice  that 
he  was  asleep,  they  assembled  together  in  an  immense  crowd,  spread 
ing  over  a  space  of  about  twenty-seven  feet  square.  One  of  their 
most  eloquent  orators  (and  a  valiant  warrior  enough,  besides,  though 
hardly  so  good  at  any  other  weapon  as  he  was  with  his  tongue) 
climbed  upon  a  toadstool,  and,  from  that  elevated  position,  addressed 
the  multitude.  His  sentiments  were  pretty  much  as  follows;  or, 
at  all  events,  something  like  this  was  probably  the  upshot  of  his 
speech  :  — 

"  Tall  Pygmies  and  mighty  little  men  !  You  and  all  of  us  have 
seen  what  a  public  calamity  has  been  brought  to  pass,  and  what  an 
insult  has  here  been  offered  to  the  majesty  of  our  nation.  Yonder 
lies  Anta3us,  our  great  friend  and  brother,  slain  within  our  territory, 
by  a  miscreant  who  took  him  at  disadvantage,  and  fought  him  (if 
fighting  it  can  be  called)  in  a  way  that  neither  man,  nor  Giant,  nor 
Pygmy  ever  dreamed  of  fighting  until  this  hour.  And,  adding  a 
grievous  contumely  to  the  wrong  already  done  us,  the  miscreant 
has  now  fallen  asleep  as  quietly  as  if  nothing  were  to  be  dreaded 
from  our  wrath  !  It  behooves  you,  fellow-countrymen,  to  consider 
in  what  aspect  we  shall  stand  before  the  world,  and  what  will  be 
the  verdict  of  impartial  history,  should  we  suffer  these  accumulated 
outrages  to  go  unavenged. 


THE  PYGMIES.  55 

"  Antaeus  was  our  brother,  born  of  that  same  beloved  parent  to 
whom  we  owe  the  thews  and  sinews,  as  well  as  the  courageous 
hearts,  which  made  him  proud  of  our  relationship.  He  was  our 
faithful  ally,  and  fell  fighting  as  much  for  our  national  rights  and 
immunities  as  for  his  own  personal  ones.  We  and  our  forefathers 
have  dwelt  in  friendship  with  him,  and  held  affectionate  intercourse, 
as  man  to  man,  through  immemorial  generations.  You  remember 
how  often  our  entire  people  have  reposed  in  his  great  shadow,  and 
how  our  little  ones  have  played  at  hide-and-seek  in  the  tangles  of. 
his  hair,  and  how  his  mighty  footsteps  have  familiarly  gone  to  and 
fro  among  us,  and  never  trodden  upon  any  of  our  toes.  And  there 
lies  this  dear  brother,  —  this  sweet  and  amiable  friend,  —  this  brave 
and  faithful  ally,  —  this  virtuous  Giant,  —  this  blameless  and  excel 
lent  Antaeus,  —  dead!  Dead!  Silent!  Powerless!  A  mere  moun 
tain  of  clay !  Forgive  my  tears  !  Nay,  I  behold  your  own !  Were 
we  to  drown  the  world  with  them,  could  the  world  blame  us? 

"  But  to  resume :  Shall  we,  my  countrymen,  suffer  this  wicked 
stranger  to  depart  unharmed,  and  triumph  in  his  treacherous  vic 
tory,  among  distant  communities  of  the  earth  ?  Shall  we  not  rather 
compel  him  to  leave  his  bones  here  on  our  soil,  by  the  side  of  our 
slain  brother's  bones,  so  that,  while  one  skeleton  shall  remain  as  the 
everlasting  monument  of  our  sorrow,  the  other  shall  endure  as  long, 
exhibiting  to  the  whole  human  race  a  terrible  example  of  Pygmy 
vengeance  ?  Such  is  the  question.  I  put  it  to  you  in  full  confidence 
of  a  response  that  shall  be  worthy  of  our  national  character,  and 
calculated  to  increase,  rather  than  diminish,  the  glory  which  our 
ancestors  have  transmitted  to  us,  and  which  we  ourselves  have 
proudly  vindicated  in  our  warfare  with  the  cranes." 

The  orator  was  here  interrupted  by  a  burst  of  irrepressible  en 
thusiasm  ;  every  individual  Pygmy  crying  out  that  the  national 
honor  must  be  preserved  at  all  hazards.  He  bowed,  and  making  a 
gesture  for  silence,  wound  up  his  harangue  in  the  following  admi 
rable  manner :  — 

"  It  only  remains  for  us,  then,  to  decide  whether  we  shall  carry 
on  the  war  in  our  national  capacity,  —  one  united  people  against  a 
common  enemy,  —  or  whether  some  champion,  famous  in  former 
fights,  shall  be  selected  to  defy  the  slayer  of  our  brother  Antaeus  to 
single  combat.  In  the  latter  case,  though  not  unconscious  that 


56  THE  PYGMIES. 

there  may  be  taller  men  among  you,  I  hereby  offer  myself  for  that 
enviable  duty.  And,  believe  me,  dear  countrymen,  whether  I  live 
or  die,  the  honor  of  this  great  country,  and  the  fame  bequeathed 
us  by  our  heroic  progenitors,  shall  suffer  no  diminution  in  my 
hands.  Never,  while  I  can  wield  this  sword,  of  which  I  now  fling 
away  the  scabbard,  —  never,  never,  never,  even  if  the  crimson  hand 
that  slew  the  great  Antseus  shall  lay  me  prostrate,  like  him,  on  the 
soil  which  I  give  my  life  to  defend." 

So  saying,  this  valiant  Pygmy  drew  out  his  weapon  (which  was 
terrible  to  behold,  being  as  long  as  the  blade  of  a  penknife),  and 
sent  the  scabbard  whirling  over  the  heads  of  the  multitude.  His 
speech  was  followed  by  an  uproar  of  applause,  as  its  patriotism  and 
self-devotion  unquestionably  deserved ;  and  the  shouts  and  clapping 
of  hands  would  have  been  greatly  prolonged  had  they  not  been  ren 
dered  quite  inaudible  by  a  deep  respiration,  vulgarly  called  a  snore, 
from  the  sleeping  Hercules. 

It  was  finally  decided  that  the  whole  nation  of  Pygmies  should 
set  to  work  to  destroy  Hercules ;  not,  be  it  understood,  from  any 
doubt  that  a  single  champion  would  be  capable  of  putting  him  to 
the  sword,  but  because  he  was  a  public  enemy,  and  all  were  desirous 
of  sharing  in  the  glory  of  his  defeat.  There  was  a  debate  whether 
the  national  honor  did  not  demand  that  a  herald  should  be  sent  with 
a  trumpet,  to  stand  over  the  ear  of  Hercules,  and,  after  blowing  a 
blast  right  into  it,  to  defy  him  to  the  combat  by  formal  proclamation. 
But  two  or  three  venerable  and  sagacious  Pygmies,  well  versed  in 
state  affairs,  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  war  already  existed,  and 
that  it  was  their  rightful  privilege  to  take  the  enemy  by  surprise. 
Moreover,  if  awakened,  and  allowed  to  get  upon  his  feet,  Hercules 
might  happen  to  do  them  a  mischief  before  he  could  be  beaten  down 
again.  For,  as  these  sage  counsellors  remarked,  the  stranger's  club 
was  really  very  big,  and  had  rattled  like  a  thunderbolt  against  the 
skull  of  Antaeus.  So  the  Pygmies  resolved  to  set  aside  all  foolish 
punctilios,  and  assail  their  antagonist  at  once. 

Accordingly,  all  the  fighting  men  of  the  nation  took  their  wea 
pons,  and  went  boldly  up  to  Hercules,  who  still  lay  fast  asleep,  little 
dreaming  of  the  harm  which  the  Pygmies  meant  to  do  him.  A 
body  of  twenty  thousand  archers  marched  in  front,  with  their  little 
bows  all  ready,  and  the  arrows  on  the  string.  The  same  number 


THE  PYGMIES.  57 

were  ordered  to  clamber  upon  Hercules,  some  with  spades  to  dig  his 
eyes  out,  and  others  with  bundles  of  hay,  and  all  manner  of  rub 
bish,  with  which  they  intended  to  plug  up  his  mouth  and  nostrils, 
so  that  he  might  perish  for  lack  of  breath.  These  last,  however, 
could  by  no  means  perform  their  appointed  duty  ;  inasmuch  as  the 
enemy's  breath  rushed  out  of  his  nose  in  an  obstreperous  hurricane 
and  whirlwind,  which  blew  the  Pygmies  away  as  fast  as  they  came 
nigh.  It  was  found  necessary,  therefore,  to  hit  upon  some  other 
method  of  carrying  on  the  war. 

After  holding  a  council,  the  captains  ordered  their  troops  to  col 
lect  sticks,  straws,  dry  weeds,  and  whatever  combustible  stuff  they 
could  find,  and  make  a  pile  of  it,  heaping  it  high  around  the  head 
of  Hercules.  As  a  great  many  thousand  Pygmies  were  employed  in 
this  task,  they  soon  brought  together  several  bushels  of  inflamma 
tory  matter,  and  raised  so  tall  a  heap,  that,  mounting  on  its  summit, 
they  were  quite  upon  a  level  with  the  sleeper's  face.  The  archers, 
meanwhile,  were  stationed  within  bow-shot,  with  orders  to  let  fly  at 
Hercules  the  instant  that  he  stirred.  Everything  being  in  readiness, 
a  torch  was  applied  to  the  pile,  which  immediately  burst  into  flames, 
and  soon  waxed  hot  enough  to  roast  the  enemy,  had  he  but  chosen 
to  lie  still.  A  Pygmy,  you  know,  though  so  very  small,  might  set 
the  world  on  fire,  just  as  easily  as  a  Giant  could ;  so  that  this  was 
certainly  the  very  best  way  of  dealing  with  their  foe,  provided  they 
could  have  kept  him  quiet  while  the  conflagration  was  going  for 
ward. 

But  no  sooner  did  Hercules  begin  to  be  scorched,  than  up  he 
started,  with  his  hair  in  a  red  blaze. 

"  What's  all  this?"  he  cried,  bewildered  with  sleep,  and  staring 
about  him  as  if  he  expected  to  see  another  Giant. 

At  that  moment  the  twenty  thousand  archers  twanged  their  bow 
strings,  and  the  arrows  came  whizzing,  like  so  many  winged  mosqui 
toes,  right  into  the  face  of  Hercules.  But  I  doubt  whether  more 
than  half  a  dozen  of  them  punctured  the  skin,  which  was  remarka 
bly  tough,  as  you  know  the  skin  of  a  hero  has  good  need  to  be. 

"  Villain  !  "  shouted  all  the  Pygmies  at  once.  "  You  have  killed 
the  Giant  Antaeus,  our  great  brother,  and  the  ally  of  our  nation. 
We  declare  bloody  war  against  you  and  will  slay  you  on  the  spot." 

Surprised  at  the  shrill  piping  of  so  many  little  voices,  Hercules, 


58  THE  PYGMIES. 

after  putting  out  the  conflagration  of  his  hair,  gazed  all  round  about, 
but  could  see  nothing.  At  last,  however,  looking  narrowly  on  the 
ground,  he  espied  the  innumerable  assemblage  of  Pygmies  at  his 
feet.  He  stooped  down,  and  taking  up  the  nearest  one  between  his 
thumb  and  finger,  set  him  on  the  palm  of  his  left  hand,  and  held 
him  at  a  proper  distance  for  examination.  It  chanced  to  be  the  very 
identical  Pygmy  who  had  spoken  from  the  top  of  the  toadstool,  and 
had  offered  himself  as  a  champion  to  meet  Hercules  in  single  com 
bat. 

"  What  in  the  world,  my  little  fellow,"  ejaculated  Hercules,  "  may 
you  be  ?  " 

"  I  am  your  enemy,"  answered  the  valiant  Pygmy,  in  his  mighti 
est  squeak.  "  You  have  slain  the  enormous  Antaeus,  our  brother 
by  the  mother's  side,  and  for  ages  the  faithful  ally  of  our  illustrious 
nation.  We  are  determined  to  put  you  to  death ;  and  for  my  own 
part,  I  challenge  you  to  instant  battle,  on  equal  ground." 

Hercules  was  so  tickled  with  the  Pygmy's  big  words  and  warlike 
gestures,  that  he  burst  into  a  great  explosion  of  laughter,  and  almost 
dropped  the  poor  little  mite  of  a  creature  off  the  palm  of  his  hand, 
through  the  ecstasy  and  convulsion  of  his  merriment. 

"  Upon  my  word,"  cried  he,  "  I  thought  I  had  seen  wonders  be 
fore  to-day,  —  hydras  with  nine  heads,  stags  with  golden  horns,  six- 
legged  men,  three-headed  dogs,  giants  with  furnaces  in  their  stom 
achs,  and  nobody  knows  what  besides.  But  here,  on  the  palm  of 
my  hand,  stands  a  wonder  that  outdoes  them  all !  Your  body,  my 
little  friend,  is  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  man's  finger.  Pray, 
how  Tbig  may  your  soul  be  ?  " 

"  As  big  as  your  own  !  "  said  the  Pygmy. 

Hercules  was  touched  with  the  little  man's  dauntless  courage,  and 
could  not  help  acknowledging  such  a  brotherhood  with  him  as  one 
hero  feels  for  another. 

"  My  good  little  people,"  said  he,  making  a  low  obeisance  to  the 
grand  nation,  "  not  for  all  the  world  would  I  do  an  intentional  in 
jury  to  such  brave  fellows  as  you !  Your  hearts  seem  to  me  so 
exceedingly  great,  that,  upon  my  honor,  I  marvel  how  your  small 
bodies  can  contain  them.  I  sue  for  peace,  and,  as  a  condition  of  it, 
will  take  five  strides,  and  be  out  of  your  kingdom  at  the  sixth. 
Good-by.  I  shall  pick  my  steps  carefully,  for  fear  of  treading  upon 


THE  PYGMIES.  59 

some  fifty  of  you,  without  knowing  it.     Ha,  ha,  ha !     Ho,  ho,  ho  ! 
For  once,  Hercules  acknowledges  himself  vanquished." 

Some  writers  say,  that  Hercules  gathered  up  the  whole  race  of 
Pygmies  in  his  lion's  skin,  and  carried  them  home  to  Greece,  for 
the  children  of  King  Eurystheus  to  play  with.  But  this  is  a  mis 
take.  He  left  them,  one  and  all,  within  their  own  territory,  where, 
for  aught  I  can  tell,  their  descendants  are  alive  to  the  present  day, 
building  their  little  houses,  cultivating  their  little  fields,  spanking 
their  little  children,  waging  their  little  warfare  with  the  cranes, 
doing  their  little  business,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  reading  their 
little  histories  of  ancient  times.  In  those  histories,  perhaps,  it  stands 
recorded,  that,  a  great  many  centuries  ago,  the  valiant  Pygmies 
avenged  the  death  of  the  Giant  Antaeus  by  scaring  away  the  mighty 
Hercules. 


CADMUS,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  the  three  sons  of  King  Agenor,  and 
their  little  sister  Europa  (who  was  a  very  beautiful  child)  were  at 
play  together,  near  the  seashore,  in  their  father's  kingdom  of  Phoe 
nicia.  They  had  rambled  to  some  distance  from  the  palace  where 
their  parents  dwelt,  and  were  now  in  a  verdant  meadow,  on  one 
side  of  which  lay  the  sea,  all  sparkling  and  dimpling  in  the  sun 
shine,  and  murmuring  gently  against  the  beach.  The  three  boys 
were  very  happy,  gathering  flowers,  and  twining  them  into  garlands, 
with  which  they  adorned  the  little  Europa.  Seated  on  the  grass,  the 
child  was  almost  hidden  under  an  abundance  of  buds  and  blossoms, 
whence  her  rosy  face  peeped  merrily  out,  and,  as  Cadmus  said,  was 
the  prettiest  of  all  the  flowers. 

Just  then,  there  came  a  splendid  butterfly,  fluttering  along  the 
meadow ;  and  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix  set  off  in  pursuit  of  it, 
crying  out  that  it  was  a  flower  with  wings.  Europa,  who  was  a 
little  wearied  with  playing  all  day  long,  did  not  chase  the  butterfly 
with  her  brothers,  but  sat  still  where  they  had  left  her,  and  closed 
her  eyes.  For  a  while,  she  listened  to  the  pleasant  murmur  of  the 
sea,  which  was  like  a  voice  saying  "  Hush  !  "  and  bidding  her  go  to 
sleep.  But  the  pretty  child,  if  she  slept  at  all,  could  not  have  slept 
more  than  a  moment,  when  she  heard  something  trample  on  the 
grass,  not  far  from  her,  and  peeping  out  from  the  heap  of  flowers, 
beheld  a  snow-white  bull. 

And  whence  could  this  bull  have  come  ?  Europa  and  her  brothers 
had  been  a  long  time  playing  in  the  meadow,  and  had  seen  no 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  61 

cattle,  nor  other  living  thing,  either  there  or  on  the  neighboring 
hills. 

"  Brother  Cadmus !  "  cried  Europa,  starting  up  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  roses  and  lilies.  "  Phoenix !  Cilix !  Where  are  you  all  ? 
Help  !  Help  !  Come  and  drive  away  this  bull !  " 

But  her  brothers  were  too  far  off  to  hear ;  especially  as  the  fright 
took  away  Europa's  voice,  and  hindered  her  from  calling  very  loudly. 
So  there  she  stood,  with  her  pretty  mouth  wide  open,  as  pale  as  the 
white  lilies  that  were  twisted  among  the  other  flowers  in  her  gar 
lands. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  the  suddenness  with  which  she  had  perceived 
the  bull,  rather  than  anything  frightful  in  his  appearance,  that 
caused  Europa  so  much  alarm.  On  looking  at  him  more  atten 
tively,  she  began  to  see  that  he  was  a  beautiful  animal,  and  even 
fancied  a  particularly  amiable  expression  in  his  face.  As  for  his 
breath,  —  the  breath  of  cattle,  you  know,  is  always  sweet,  —  it  was 
as  fragrant  as  if  he  had  been  grazing  on  no  other  food  than  rose 
buds,  or,  at  least,  the  most  delicate  of  clover-blossoms.  Never  before 
did  a  bull  have  such  bright  and  tender  eyes,  and  such  smooth  horns 
of  ivory,  as  this  one.  And  the  bull  ran  little  races,  and  capered 
sportively  around  the  child ;  so  that  she  quite  forgot  how  big  and 
strong  he  was,  and,  from  the  gentleness  and  playfulness  of  his  ac 
tions,  soon  came  to  consider  him  as  innocent  a  creature  as  a  pet 
lamb. 

Thus,  frightened  as  she  at  first  was,  you  might  by  and  by  have 
seen  Europa  stroking  the  bull's  forehead  with  her  small  white  hand, 
and  taking  the  garlands  off  her  own  head  to  hang  them  on  his  neck 
and  ivory  horns.  Then  she  pulled  up  some  blades  of  grass,  and  he 
ate  them  out  of  her  hand,  not  as  if  he  were  hungry,  but  because  he 
wanted  to  be  friends  with  the  child,  and  took  pleasure  in  eating 
what  she  had  touched.  Well,  my  stars  !  was  there  ever  such  a  gen 
tle,  sweet,  pretty,  and  amiable  creature  as  this  bull,  and  ever  such  a 
nice  playmate  for  a  little  girl  ? 

When  the  animal  saw  (for  the  bull  had  so  much  intelligence  that 
it  is  really  wonderful  to  think  of),  when  he  saw  that  Europa  was  no 
longer  afraid  of  him,  he  grew  overjoyed,  and  could  hardly  contain 
himself  for  delight.  He  frisked  about  the  meadow,  now  here,  now 
there,  making  sprightly  leaps,  with  as  little  effort  as  a  bird  expends 


62  THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH. 

in  hopping  from  twig  to  twig.  Indeed,  his  motion  was  as  light  as 
if  he  were  flying  through  the  air,  and  his  hoofs  seemed  hardly  to 
leave  their  print  in  the  grassy  soil  over  which  he  trod.  With  his 
spotless  hue,  he  resembled  a  snow-drift,  wafted  along  by  the  wind. 
Once  he  galloped  so  far  away  that  Europa  feared  lest  she  might 
never  see  him  again ;  so,  setting  up  her  childish  voice,  she  called 
him  back. 

"  Come  back,  pretty  creature ! "  she  cried.  "  Here  is  a  nice  clover- 
blossom." 

And  then  it  was  delightful  to  witness  the  gratitude  of  this  amiable 
bull,  and  how  he  was  so  full  of  joy  and  thankfulness  that  he  capered 
higher  than  ever.  He  came  running,  and  bowed  his  head  before 
Europa,  as  if  he  knew  her  to  be  a  king's  daughter,  or  else  recog 
nized  the  important  truth  that  a  little  girl  is  everybody's  queen. 
And  not  only  did  the  bull  bend  his  neck,  he  absolutely  knelt  down 
at  her  feet,  and  made  such  intelligent  nods,  and  other  inviting  ges 
tures,  that  Europa  understood  what  he  meant  just  as  well  as  if  he 
had  put  it  in  so  many  words. 

"  Come,  dear  child,"  was  what  he  wanted  to  say,  "  let  me  give  you 
a  ride  on  my  back." 

At  the  first  thought  of  such  a  thing,  Europa  drew  back.  But 
then  she  considered  in  her  wise  little  head  that  there  could  be  no 
possible  harm  in  taking  just  one  gallop  on  the  back  of  this  docile 
and  friendly  animal,  who  would  certainly  set  her  down  the  very 
instant  she  desired  it.  And  how  it  would  surprise  her  brothers  to 
see  her  riding  across  the  green  meadow !  And  what  merry  times 
they  might  have,  either  taking  turns  for  a  gallop,  or  clambering  on 
the  gentle  creature,  all  four  children  together,  and  careering  round 
the  field  with  shouts  of  laughter  that  would  be  heard  as  far  off  as 
King  Agenor's  palace  ! 

"  I  think  I  will  do  it,"  said  the  child  to  herself. 

And,  indeed,  why  not  ?  She  cast  a  glance  around,  and  caught  a 
glimpse  of  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  who  were  still  in  pursuit  of 
the  butterfly,  almost  at  the  other  end  of  the  meadow.  It  would  be 
the  quickest  way  of  rejoining  them,  to  get  upon  the  white  bull's 
back.  She  came  a  step  nearer  to  him,  therefore  ;  and  —  sociable 
creature  that  he  was  —  he  showed  so  much  joy  at  this  mark  of  her 
confidence,  that  the  child  could  not  find  it  in  her  heart  to  hesitate 


EUROPA   AND   THE   BULL.     Page  62. 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 


65 


any  longer.  Making  one  bound  (for  this  little  princess  was  as 
active  as  a  squirrel),  there  sat  Europa  on  the  beautiful  bull,  hold 
ing  an  ivory  horn  in  each  hand,  lest  she  should  fall  off. 

"  Softly,  pretty  bull,  softly  !  "  she  said,  rather  frightened  at  what 
she  had  done.  "  Do  not  gallop  too  fast." 

Having  got  the  child  on  his  back,  the  animal  gave  a  leap  into  the 
air,  and  came  down  so  like  a  feather  that  Europa  did  not  know  when 
his  hoofs  touched  the  ground.  He  then  began  a  race  to  that  part 
of  the  flowery  plain  where  her  three  brothers  were,  and  where  they 


had  just  caught  their  splendid  butterfly.  Europa  screamed  with  de 
light  ;  and  Pho3iiix,  Cilix,  and  Cadmus  stood  gaping  at  the  specta 
cle  of  their  sister  mounted  on  a  white  bull,  not  knowing  whether  to 
be  frightened  or  to  wish  the  same  good  luck  for  themselves.  The 
gentle  and  innocent  creature  (for  who  could  possibly  doubt  that  he 
was  so  ?)  pranced  round  among  the  children  as  sportively  as  a  kitten. 
Europa  all  the  while  looked  down  upon  her  brothers,  nodding  and 
laughing,  but  yet  with  a  sort  of  stateliness  in  her  rosy  little  face. 
As  the  bull  wheeled  about  to  take  another  gallop  across  the  meadow, 
the  child  waved  her  hand,  and  said,  "  Good-by,"  playfully  pretend 
ing  that  she  was  now  bound  on  a  distant  journey,  and  might  not 
see  her  brothers  again  for  nobody  could  tell  how  long. 


66  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

"  Good-by,"  shouted  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  all  in  one 
breath. 

But,  together  with  her  enjoyment  of  the  sport,  there  was  still  a 
little  remnant  of  fear  in  the  child's  heart ;  so  that  her  last  look  at  the 
three  boys  was  a  troubled  one,  and  made  them  feel  as  if  their  dear 
sister  were  really  leaving  them  forever.  And  what  do  you  think 
the  snowy  bull  did  next?  Why,  he  set  off,  as  swift  as  the  wind, 
straight  down  to  the  sea-shore,  scampered  across  the  sand,  took  an 
airy  leap,  and  plunged  right  in  among  the  foaming  billows.  The 
white  spray  rose  in  a  shower  over  him  and  little  Europa,  and  fell 
spattering  down  upon  the  water. 

Then  what  a  scream  of  terror  did  the  poor  child  send  forth  !  The 
three  brothers  screamed  manfully,  likewise,  and  ran  to  the  shore  as 
fast  as  their  legs  would  carry  them,  with  Cadmus  at  their  head.  But 
it  was  too  late.  When  they  reached  the  margin  of  the  sand,  the 
treacherous  animal  was  already  far  away  in  the  wide  blue  sea,  with 
only  his  snowy  head  and  tail  emerging,  and  poor  little  Europa  be 
tween  them,  stretching  out  one  hand  towards  her  dear  brothers, 
while  she  grasped  the  bull's  ivory  horn  with  the  other.  And  there 
stood  Cadmus,  Phoenix,  and  Cilix,  gazing  at  this  sad  spectacle, 
through  their  tears,  until  they  could  no  longer  distinguish  the  bull's 
snowy  head  from  the  white-capped  billows  that  seemed  to  boil  up 
out  of  the  sea's  depths  around  him.  Nothing  more  was  ever  seen 
of  the  white  bull,  —  nothing  more  of  the  beautiful  child. 

This  was  a  mournful  story,  as  you  may  well  think,  for  the  three 
boys  to  carry  home  to  their  parents.  King  Agenor,  their  father, 
was  the  ruler  of  the  whole  country ;  but  he  loved  his  little  daughter 
Europa  better  than  his  kingdom,  or  than  all  his  other  children,  or  than 
anything  else  in  the  world.  Therefore,  when  Cadmus  and  his  two 
brothers  came  crying  home,  and  told  him  how  that  a  white  bull  had 
carried  off  their  sister,  and  swam  with  her  over  the  sea,  the  king 
was  quite  beside  himself  with  grief  and  rage.  Although  it  was  now 
twilight,  and  fast  growing  dark,  he  bade  them  set  out  instantly  in 
search  of  her. 

"  Never  shall  you  see  my  face  again,"  he  cried,  "  unless  you  bring 
me  back  my  little  Europa,  to  gladden  me  with  her  smiles  and  her 
pretty  ways.  Begone,  and  enter  my  presence  no  more,  till  you  come 
leading  her  by  the  hand." 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  67 

As  King  Agenor  said  this,  his  eyes  flashed  fire  (for  he  was  a  very 
passionate  king),  and  he  looked  so  terribly  angry  that  the  poor  boys 
did  not  even  venture  to  ask  for  their  suppers,  but  slunk  away  out 
of  the  palace,  and  only  paused  on  the  steps  a  moment  to  consult 
whither  they  should  go  first.  While  they  were  standing  there,  all 
in  dismay,  their  mother,  Queen  Telephassa  (who  happened  not  to  be 
by  when  they  told  the  story  to  the  king),  came  hurrying  after  them? 
and  said  that  she  too  would  go  in  quest  of  her  daughter. 

"  Oh  no,  mother !  "  cried  the  boys.  "  The  night  is  dark,  and 
there  is  no  knowing  what  troubles  and  perils  we  may  meet  with." 

"  Alas !  my  dear  children,"  answered  poor  Queen  Telephassa, 
weeping  bitterly,  "  that  is  only  another  reason  why  I  should  go  with 
you.  If  I  should  lose  you,  too,  as  well  as  my  little  Europa,  what 
would  become  of  me  ?  " 

"  And  let  me  go  likewise ! "  said  their  playfellow  Thasus,  who 
came  running  to  join  them. 

Thasus  was  the  son  of  a  seafaring  person  in  the  neighborhood ; 
he  had  been  brought  up  with  the  young  princes,  and  was  their  inti 
mate  friend,  and  loved  Europa  very  much ;  so  they  consented  that 
he  should  accompany  them.  The  whole  party,  therefore,  set  forth 
together;  Cadmus,  Phoanix,  Cilix,  and  Thasus  clustered  round 
Queen  Telephassa,  grasping  her  skirts,  and  begging  her  to  lean 
upon  their  shoulders  whenever  she  felt  weary.  In  this  manner  they 
went  down  the  palace  steps,  and  began  a  journey  which  turned  out 
to  be  a  great  deal  longer  than  they  dreamed  of.  The  last  that  they 
saw  of  King  Agenor,  he  came  to  the  door,  with  a  servant  holding 
a  torch  beside  him,  and  called  after  them  into  the  gathering  dark 
ness  :  — 

"  Remember !     Never  ascend  these  steps  again  without  the  child ! " 

"  Never  ! "  sobbed  Queen  Telephassa  ;  and  the  three  brothers  and 
Thasus  answered,  "  Never !  Never  !  Never  !  Never  !  " 

And  they  kept  their  word.  Year  after  year  King  Agenor  sat  in 
the  solitude  of  his  beautiful  palace,  listening  in  vain  for  their  return 
ing  footsteps,  hoping  to  hear  the  familiar  voice  of  the  queen,  and 
the  cheerful  talk  of  his  sons  and  their  playfellow  Thasus,  entering 
the  door  together,  and  the  sweet,  childish  accents  of  little  Europa 
in  the  midst  of  them.  But  so  long  a  time  went  by,  that,  at  last,  if 
they  had  really  come,  the  king  would  not  have  known  that  this  was 


68  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

the  voice  of  Telephassa,  and  these  the  younger  voices  that  used  to 
make  such  joyful  echoes  when  the  children  were  playing  about  the 
palace.  We  must  now  leave  King  Agenor  to  sit  on  his  throne,  and 
must  go  along  with  Queen  Telephassa  and  her  four  youthful  com 
panions. 

They  went  on  and  on,  and  travelled  a  long  way,  and  passed  over 
mountains  and  rivers,  and  sailed  over  seas.  Here,  and  there,  and 
everywhere,  they  made  continual  inquiry  if  any  person  could  tell 
them  what  had  become  of  Europa.  The  rustic  people,  of  whom 
they  asked  this  question,  paused  a  little  while  from  their  labors  in 
the  field,  and  looked  very  much  surprised.  They  thought  it  strange 
to  behold  a  woman  in  the  garb  of  a  queen  (for  Telephassa,  in  her 
haste,  had  forgotten  to  take  off  her  crown  and  her  royal  robes), 
roaming  about  the  country,  with  four  lads  around  her,  on  such  an 
errand  as  this  seemed  to  be.  But  nobody  could  give  them  any 
tidings  of  Europa ;  nobody  had  seen  a  little  girl  dressed  like  a  prin 
cess,  and  mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull,  which  galloped  as  swiftly 
as  the  wind. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  long  Queen  Telephassa,  and  Cadmus,  Phoa- 
nix,  and  Cilix,  her  three  sons,  and  Thasus,  their  playfellow,  went 
wandering  along  the  highways  and  bypaths,  or  through  the  path 
less  wildernesses  of  the  earth,  in  this  manner.  But  certain  it  is,  that, 
before  they  reached  any  place  of  rest,  their  splendid  garments  were 
quite  worn  out.  They  all  looked  very  much  travel-stained,  and 
would  have  had  the  dust  of  many  countries  on  their  shoes,  if  the 
streams,  through  which  they  waded,  had  not  washed  it  all  away. 
When  they  had  been  gone  a  year,  Telephassa  threw  away  her  crown, 
because  it  chafed  her  forehead. 

"  It  has  given  me  many  a  headache,"  said  the  poor  queen,  "  and 
it  cannot  cure  my  heartache." 

As  fast  as  their  princely  robes  got  torn  and  tattered,  they  ex 
changed  them  for  such  mean  attire  as  ordinary  people  wore.  By 
and  by  they  came  to  have  a  wild  and  homeless  aspect ;  so  that  you 
would  much  sooner  have  taken  them  for  a  gypsy  family  than  a 
queen  and  three  princes,  and  a  young  nobleman,  who  had  once  a 
palace  for  their  home,  and  a  train  of  servants  to  do  their  bidding. 
The  four  boys  grew  up  to  be  tall  young  men,  with  sunburnt  faces. 
Each  of  them  girded  on  a  sword,  to  defend  themselves  against  the 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  69 

perils  of  the  way.  When  the  husbandmen,  at  whose  farm-houses 
they  sought  hospitality,  needed  their  assistance  in  the  harvest-field, 
they  gave  it  willingly ;  and  Queen  Telephassa  (who  had  done  no 
work  in  her  palace,  save  to  braid  silk  threads  with  golden  ones) 
came  behind  them  to  bind  the  sheaves.  If  payment  was  offered, 
they  shook  their  heads,  and  only  asked  for  tidings  of  Europa. 

"  There  are  bulls  enough  in  my  pasture,"  the  old  farmers  would 
reply ;  "  but  I  never  heard  of  one  like  this  you  tell  me  of.  A  snow- 
white  bull  with  a  little  princess  on  his  back !  Ho  !  ho  !  I  ask  your 
pardon,  good  folks ;  but  there  never  was  such  a  sight  seen  here 
abouts." 

At  last,  when  his  upper  lip  began  to  have  the  down  on  it,  Phoenix 
grew  weary  of  rambling  hither  and  thither  to  no  purpose.  So,  one 
day,  when  they  happened  to  be  passing  through  a  pleasant  and  soli 
tary  tract  of  country,  he  sat  himself  down  on  a  heap  of  moss. 

"  I  can  go  no  farther,"  said  Phoenix.  "  It  is  a  mere  foolish  waste 
of  life,  to  spend  it,  as  we  do,  in  always  wandering  up  and  down,  and 
never  coming  to  any  home  at  nightfall.  Our  sister  is  lost,  and 
never  will  be  found.  She  probably  perished  in  the  sea;  or,  to 
whatever  shore  the  white  bull  may  have  carried  her,  it  is  now  so 
many  years  ago,  that  there  would  be  neither  love  nor  acquaintance 
between  us  should  we  meet  again.  My  father  has  forbidden  us  to 
return  to  his  palace  ;  so  I  shall  build  me  a  hut  of  branches,  and 
dwell  here." 

"Well,  son  Phoenix,"  said  Telephassa,  sorrowfully,  "you  have 
grown  to  be  a  man,  and  must  do  as  you  judge  best.  But,  for  my 
part,  I  will  still  go  in  quest  of  my  poor  child." 

"  And  we  three  will  go  along  with  you  !  "  cried  Cadmus  and  Cilix, 
and  their  faithful  friend  Thasus. 

But,  before  setting  out,  they  all  helped  Phoenix  to  build  a  habita 
tion.  When  completed,  it  was  a  sweet  rural  bower,  roofed  overhead 
with  an  arch  of  living  boughs.  Inside  there  were  two  pleasant 
rooms,  one  of  which  had  a  soft  heap  of  moss  for  a  bed,  while  the 
other  was  furnished  with  a  rustic  seat  or  two,  curiously  fashioned 
out  of  the  crooked  roots  of  trees.  So  comfortable  and  homelike  did 
it  seem,  that  Telephassa  and  her  three  companions  could  not  help 
sighing,  to  think  that  they  must  still  roam  about  this  world,  instead 
of  spending  the  remainder  of  their  lives  in  some  such  cheerful  abode 


70  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

as  they  had  here  built  for  Phoenix.  But,  when  they  bade  him  fare 
well,  Phoenix  shed  tears,  and  probably  regretted  that  he  was  no 
longer  to  keep  them  company. 

However,  he  had  fixed  upon  an  admirable  place  to  dwell  in.  And 
by  and  by  there  came  other  people,  who  chanced  to  have  no  homes ; 
and,  seeing  how  pleasant  a  spot  it  Was,  they  built  themselves  huts 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Phoenix's  habitation.  Thus,  before  many 
years  went  by,  a  city  had  grown  up  there,  in  the  centre  of  which 
was  seen  a  stately  palace  of  marble,  wherein  dwelt  Phoenix,  clothed 
in  a  purple  robe,  and  wearing  a  golden  crown  upon  his  head.  For 
the  inhabitants  of  the  new  city,  finding  that  he  had  royal  blood  in 
his  veins,  had  chosen  him  to  be  their  king.  The  very  first  decree  of 
state  which  King  Phoenix  issued  was,  that  if  a*  maiden  happened  to 
arrive  in  the  kingdom,  mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull,  and  calling 
herself  Europa,  his  subjects  should  treat  her  with  the  greatest  kind 
ness  and  respect,  and  immediately  bring  her  to  the  palace.  You 
may  see,  by  this,  that  Phoenix's  conscience  never  quite  ceased  to 
trouble  him,  for  giving  up  the  quest  of  his  dear  sister,  and  sitting 
himself  down  to  be  comfortable,  while  his  mother  and  her  com 
panions  went  onward. 

But  often  and  often,  at  the  close  of  a  weary  day's  journey,  did 
Telephassa  and  Cadmus,  Cilix  and  Thasus,  remember  the  pleasant 
spot  in  which  they  had  left  Phoenix.  It  was  a  sorrowful  prospect 
for  these  wanderers,  that  on  the  morrow  they  must  again  set  forth, 
and  that,  after  many  nightfalls,  they  would  perhaps  be  no  nearer 
the  close  of  their  toilsome  pilgrimage  than  now.  These  thoughts 
made  them  all  melancholy  at  times,  but  appeared  to  torment  Cilix 
more  than  the  rest  of  the  party.  At  length,  one  morning,  when 
they  were  taking  their  staffs  in  hand  to  set  out,  he  thus  addressed 
them  :  — 

"  My  dear  mother,  and  you  good  brother  Cadmus,  and  my  friend 
Thasus,  methinks  we  are  like  people  in  a  dream.  There  is  no  sub 
stance  in  the  life  which  we  are  leading.  It  is  such  a  dreary  length 
of  time  since  the  white  bull  carried  off  my  sister  Enropa,  that  I  have 
quite  forgotten  how  she  looked,  and  the  tones  of  her  voice,  and, 
indeed,  almost  doubt  whether  such  a  little  girl  ever  lived  in  the 
world.  And  whether  she  once  lived  or  no,  I  am  convinced  that  she 
no  longer  survives,  and  that  therefore  it  is  the  merest  folly  to  waste 


THE  PARTING   OF   TELEPHASSA    AND   PHCENIX.     Page  70. 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  73 

our  own  lives  and  happiness  in  seeking  her.  Were  we  to  find  her, 
she  would  now  be  a  woman  grown,  and  would  look  upon  us  all  as 
strangers.  So,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  have  resolved  to  take  up  my 
abode  here  ;  and  I  entreat  you,  mother,  brother,  and  friend,  to  follow 
my  example." 

"  Not  I,  for  one,"  said  Telephassa ;  although  the  poor  queen, 
firmly  as  she  spoke,  was  so  travel-worn  that  she  could  hardly  put 
her  foot  to  the  ground,  —  "  not  I,  for  one !  In  the  depths  of  my 
heart,  little  Europa  is  still  the  rosy  child  who  ran  to  gather  flowers 
so  many  years  ago.  She  has  not  grown  to  womanhood,  nor  for 
gotten  me.  At  noon,  at  night,  journeying  onward,  sitting  down  to 
rest,  her  childish  voice  is  always  in  my  ears,  calling,  '  Mother  ! 
mother ! '  Stop  here  who  may,  there  is  no  repose  for  me." 

"  Nor  for  me,"  said  Cadmus,  "  while  my  dear  mother  pleases  to 
go  onward." 

And  the  faithful  Thasus,  too,  was  resolved  to  bear  them  company. 
They  remained  with  Cilix  a  few  days,  however,  and  helped  him  to 
build  a  rustic  bower,  resembling  the  one  which  they  had  formerly 
built  for  Phoenix. 

When  they  were  bidding  him  farewell,  Cilix  burst  into  tears,  and 
told  his  mother  that  it  seemed  just  as  melancholy  a  dream  to  stay 
there,  in  solitude,  as  to  go  onward.  If  she  really  believed  that  they 
would  ever  find  Europa,  he  was  willing  to  continue  the  search  with 
them,  even  now.  But  Telephassa  bade  him  remain  there,  and  be 
happy  if  his  own  heart  would  let  him.  So  the  pilgrims  took  their 
leave  of  him,  and  departed,  and  were  hardly  out  of  sight  before 
some  other  wandering  people  came  along  that  way,  and  saw  Cilix's 
habitation,  and  were  greatly  delighted  with  the  appearance  of  the 
place.  There  being  abundance  of  unoccupied  ground  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  these  strangers  built  huts  for  themselves,  and  were  soon 
joined  by  a  multitude  of  new  settlers,  who  quickly  formed  a  city. 
In  the  middle  of  it  was  seen  a  magnificent  palace  of  colored  marble, 
on  the  balcony  of  which,  every  noontide,  appeared  Cilix,  in  a  long 
purple  robe,  and  with  a  jewelled  crown  upon  his  head ;  for  the 
inhabitants,  when  they  found  out  that  he  was  a  king's  son,  had 
considered  him  the  fittest  of  all  men  to  be  a  king  himself. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  King  Cilix's  government  was  to  send  out 
an  expedition,  consisting  of  a  grave  ambassador  and  an  escort  of 


74:  THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH. 

bold  and  hardy  young  men,  with  orders  to  visit  the  principal  king 
doms  of  the  earth,  and  inquire  whether  a  young  maiden  had  passed 
through  those  regions,  galloping  swiftly  on  a  white  bull.  It  is, 
therefore,  plain  to  my  mind,  that  Cilix  secretly  blamed  himself  for 
giving  up  the  search  for  Europa,  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  put  one 
foot  before  the  other. 

As  for  Telephassa,  and  Cadmus,  and  the  good  Thasus,  it  grieves 
me  to  think  of  them,  still  keeping  up  that  weary  pilgrimage.  The 
two  young  men  did  their  best  for  the  poor  queen,  helping  her  over 
the  rough  places,  often  carrying  her  across  rivulets  in  their  faithful 
arms,  and  seeking  to  shelter  her  at  nightfall,  even  when  they  them 
selves  lay  on  the  ground.  Sad,  sad  it  was  to  hear  them  asking  of 
every  passer-by  if  he  had  seen  Europa,  so  long  after  the  white 
bull  had  carried  her  away.  But,  though  the  gray  years  thrust  them 
selves  between,  and  made  the  child's  figure  dim  in  their  remem 
brance,  neither  of  these  true-hearted  three  ever  dreamed  of  giving 
up  the  search. 

One  morning,  however,  poor  Thasus  found  that  he  had  sprained 
his  ankle,  and  could  not  possibly  go  a  step  farther. 

"  After  a  few  days,  to  be  sure,"  said  he,  mournfully,  "  I  might 
make  shift  to  hobble  along  with  a  stick.  But  that  would  only  delay 
you,  and  perhaps  hinder  you  from  finding  dear  little  Europa,  after 
all  your  pains  and  trouble.  Do  you  go  forward,  therefore,  my 
beloved  companions,  and  leave  me  to  follow  as  I  may." 

"  Thou  hast  been  a  true  friend,  dear  Thasus,"  said  Queen  Tele 
phassa,  kissing  his  forehead.  "  Being  neither  my  son,  nor  the 
brother  of  our  lost  Europa,  thou  hast  shown  thyself  truer  to  me  and 
her  than  Phrenix  and  Cilix  did,  whom  we  have  left  behind  us. 
Without  thy  loving  help,  and  that  of  my  son  Cadmus,  my  limbs 
could  not  have  borne  me  half  so  far  as  this.  Now,  take  thy  rest, 
and  be  at  peace.  For  —  and  it  is  the  first  time  I  have  owned  it  to 
myself  —  I  begin  to  question  whether  we  shall  ever  find  my  beloved 
daughter  in  this  world." 

Saying  this,  the  poor  queen  shed  tears,  because  it  was  a  grievous 
trial  to  the  mother's  heart  to  confess  that  her  hopes  were  growing 
faint.  From  that  day  forward,  Cadmus  noticed  that  she  never  trav 
elled  with  the  same  alacrity  of  spirit  that  had  heretofore  supported 
her.  Her  weight  was  heavier  upon  his  arm. 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  75 

Before  setting  out,  Cadmus  helped  Thasus  build  a  bower ;  while 
Telephassa,  being  too  infirm  to  give  any  great  assistance,  advised 
them  how  to  fit  it  up  and  furnish  it,  so  that  it  might  be  as  comfort 
able  as  a  hut  of  branches  could.  Thasus,  however,  did  not  spend 
all  his  days  in  this  green  bower.  For  it  happened  to  him,  as  to 
Phoenix  and  Cilix,  that  other  homeless  people  visited  the  spot  and 
liked  it,  and  built  themselves  habitations  in  the  neighborhood.  So 
here,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  was  another  thriving  city  with  a 
red  freestone  palace  in  the  centre  of  it,  where  Thasus  sat  upon  a 
throne,  doing  justice  to  the  people,  with  a  purple  robe  over  his 
shoulders,  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  a  crown  upon  his  head.  The 
inhabitants  had  made  him  king,  not  for  the  sake  of  any  royal  blood 
(for  none  was  in  his  veins),  but  because  Thasus  was  an  upright,  true- 
hearted,  and  courageous  man,  and  therefore  fit  to  rule. 

But,  when  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  were  all  settled,  King  Thasus 
laid  aside  his  purple  robe,  and  crown,  and  sceptre,  and  bade  his 
worthiest  subject  distribute  justice  to  the  people  in  his  stead.  Then, 
grasping  the  pilgrim's  staff  that  had  supported  him  so  long,  he  set 
forth  again,  hoping  still  to  discover  some  hoofmark  of  the  snow- 
white  bull,  some  trace  of  the  vanished  child.  He  returned,  after  a 
lengthened  absence,  and  sat  down  wearily  upon  his  throne.  To  his 
latest  hour,  nevertheless,  King  Thasus  showed  his  true-hearted 
remembrance  of  Europa,  by  ordering  that  a  fire  should  always  be 
kept  burning  in  his  palace,  and  a  bath  steaming  hot,  and  food  ready 
to  be  served  up,  and  a  bed  with  snow-white  sheets,  in  case  the 
maiden  should  arrive,  and  require  immediate  refreshment.  And 
though  Europa  never  came,  the  good  Thasus  had  the  blessings  of 
many  a  poor  traveller,  who  profited  by  the  food  and  lodging  which 
were  meant  for  the  little  playmate  of  the  king's  boyhood. 

Telephassa  and  Cadmus  were  now  pursuing  their  weary  way,  with 
no  companion  but  each  other.  The  queen  leaned  heavily  upon  her 
son's  arm,  and  could  walk  only  a  few  miles  a  day.  But  for  all  her 
weakness  and  weariness,  she  would  not  be  persuaded  to  give  up  the 
search.  It  was  enough  to  bring  tears  into  the  eyes  of  bearded  men 
to  hear  the  melancholy  tone  with  which  she  inquired  of  every 
stranger  whether  he  could  tell  her  any  news  of  the  lost  child. 

"  Have  you  seen  a  little  girl  —  no,  no,  I  mean  a  young  maiden  of 
full  growth  —  passing  by  this  way,  mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull, 
which  gallops  as  swiftly  as  the  wind?" 


76  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

"  We  have  seen  no  such  wondrous  sight,"  the  people  would  reply ; 
and  very  often,  taking  Cadmus  aside,  they  whispered  to  him,  "  Is 
this  stately  and  sad-looking  woman  your  mother?  Surely  she  is 
not  in  her  right  mind  ;  and  you  ought  to  take  her  home,  and  make 
her  comfortable,  and  do  your  best  to  get  this  dream  out  of  her 
fancy." 

"  It  is  no  dream,"  said  Cadmus.  "  Everything  else  is  a  dream, 
save  that." 

But  one  day,  Telephassa  seemed  feebler  than  usual,  and  leaned 
almost  her  whole  weight  on  the  arm  of  Cadmus,  and  walked  more 
slowly  than  ever  before.  At  last  they  reached  a  solitary  spot,  where 
she  told  her  son  that  she  must  needs  lie  down,  and  take  a  good,  long- 
rest. 

"  A  good,  long  rest ! "  she  repeated,  looking  Cadmus  tenderly  in 
the  face,  —  "a  good,  long  rest,  thou  dearest  one  ! " 

"  As  long  as  you  please,  dear  mother,"  answered  Cadmus. 

Telephassa  bade  him  sit  down  on  the  turf  beside  her,  and  then 
she  took  his  hand. 

"  My  son,''  said  she,  fixing  her  dim  eyes  most  lovingly  upon  him, 
"  this  rest  that  I  speak  of  will  be  very  long  indeed !  You  must  not 
wait  till  it  is  finished.  Dear  Cadmus,  you  do  not  comprehend  me. 
You  must  make  a  grave  here,  and  lay  your  mother's  weary  frame 
into  it.  My  pilgrimage  is  over." 

Cadmus  burst  into  tears,  and,  for  a  long  time,  refused  to  believe 
that  his  dear  mother  was  now  to  be  taken  from  him.  But  Tele 
phassa  reasoned  with  him,  and  kissed  him,  and  at  length  made  him 
discern  that  it  was  better  for  her  spirit  to  pass  away  out  of  the  toil, 
the  weariness,  the  grief,  and  disappointment  which  had  burdened  her 
on  earth,  ever  since  the  child  was  lost.  He  therefore  repressed  his 
sorrow,  and  listened  to  her  last  words. 

"  Dearest  Cadmus,"  she  said,  "  thou  hast  been  the  truest  son  that 
ever  mother  had,  and  faithful  to  the  very  last.  Who  else  would 
have  borne  with  my  infirmities  as  thou  hast !  It  is  owing  to  thy 
care,  thou  tenderest  child,  that  my  grave  was  not  dug  long  years 
ago,  in  some  valley,  or  on  some  hill-side,  that  lies  far,  far  behind  us. 
It  is  enough.  Thou  shalt  wander  no  more  on  this  hopeless  search. 
But  when  thou  hast  laid  thy  mother  in  the  earth,  then  go,  my  son, 
to  Delphi,  and  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  thou  shalt  do  next." 


THE  DRAGON'S    TEETH.  77 

<f  0  mother,  mother,"  cried  Cadmus,  "  couldst  thou  but  have  seen 
my  sister  before  this  hour ! " 

"  It  matters  little  now,"  answered  Telephassa,  and  there  was  a 
smile  upon  her  face.  "  I  go  now  to  the  better  world,  and,  sooner 
or  later,  shall  find  my  daughter  there." 

I  will  not  sadden  you,  my  little  hearers,  with  telling  how  Tele 
phassa  died  and  was  buried,  but  will  only  say  that  her  dying  smile 
grew  brighter,  instead  of  vanishing  from  her  dead  face ;  so  that 
Cadmus  felt  convinced  that,  at  her  very  first  step  into  the  better 
world,  she  had  caught  Europa  in  her  arms.  He  planted  some  flow 
ers  on  his  mother's  grave,  and  left  them  to  grow  there,  and  make 
the  place  beautiful,  when  he  should  be  far  away. 

After  performing  this  last  sorrowful  duty,  he  set  forth  alone,  and 
took  the  road  towards  the  famous  oracle  of  Delphi,  as  Telephassa 
had  advised  him.  On  his  way  thither,  he  still  inquired  of  most 
people  Avhom  he  met  whether  they  had  seen  Europa ;  for,  to  say  the 
truth,  Cadmus  had  grown  so  accustomed  to  ask  the  question,  that  it 
came  to  his  lips  as  readily  as  a  remark  about  the  weather.  He 
received  various  answers.  Some  told  him  one  thing,  and  some 
another.  Among  the  rest,  a  mariner  affirmed,  that,  many  years 
before,  in  a  distant  country,  he  had  heard  a  rumor  about  a  white 
bull,  which  came  swimming  across  the  sea  with  a  child  on  his  back, 

'  O  ' 

dressed  up  in  flowers  that  were  blighted  by  the  sea-water.  He  did 
not  know  what  had  become  of  the  child  or  the  bull ;  and  Cadmus 
suspected,  indeed,  by  a  queer  twinkle  in  the  mariner's  eyes,  that  he 
was  putting  a  joke  upon  him,  and  had  never  really  heard  anything 
about  the  matter. 

Poor  Cadmus  found  it  more  wearisome  to  travel  alone  than  to 
bear  all  his  dear  mother's  weight  while  she  had  kept  him  company. 
His  heart,  you  will  understand,  was  now  so  heavy  that  it  seemed 
impossible,  sometimes,  to  carry  it  any  farther.  But  his  limbs  were 
strong  and  active,  and  well  accustomed  to  exercise.  He  walked 
swiftly  along,  thinking  of  King  Agenor  and  Queen  Telephassa,  and 
his  brothers,  and  the  friendly  Thasus,  aU  of  whom  he  had  left 
behind  him,  at  one  point  of  his  pilgrimage  or  another,  and  never 
expected  to  see  them  any  more.  Full  of  these  remembrances,  he 
came  within  sight  of  a  lofty  mountain,  which  the  people  thereabouts 
told  him  was  called  Parnassus.  On  the  slope  of  Mount  Parnassus 
was  the  famous  Delphi,  whither  Cadmus  was  going. 


78  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

This  Delphi  was  supposed  to  be  the  very  midmost  spot  of  the 
whole  world.  The  place  of  the  oracle  was  a  certain  cavity  in  the 
mountain-side,  over  which,  when  Cadmus  came  thither,  he  found  a 
rude  bower  of  branches.  It  reminded  him  of  those  which  he  had 
helped  to  build  for  Phoenix  and  Cilix,  and  afterwards  for  Thasus. 
In  later  times,  when  multitudes  of  people  came  from  great  distances 
to  put  questions  to  the  oracle,  a  spacious  temple  of  marble  was 
erected  over  the  spot.  But  in  the  days  of  Cadmus,  as  I  have  told 
you,  there  was  only  this  rustic  bower,  with  its  abundance  of  green 
foliage,  and  a  tuft  of  shrubbery,  that  ran  wild  over  the  mysterious 
hole  in  the  hill-side. 

When  Cadmus  had  thrust  a  passage  through  the  tangled  boughs, 
and  made  his  way  into  the  bower,  he  did  not  at  first  discern  the 
half -hidden  cavity.  But  soon  he  felt  a  cold  stream  of  air  rushing 
out  of  it,  with  so  much  force  that  it  shook  the  ringlets  on  his  cheek. 
Pulling  away  the  shrubbery  which  clustered  over  the  hole,  he  bent 
forward,  and  spoke  in  a  distinct  but  reverential  tone,  as  if  addressing 
some  unseen  personage  inside  of  the  mountain. 

"Sacred  oracle  of  Delphi,"  said  he,  "whither  shall  I  go  next  in 
quest  of  my  dear  sister  Europa?" 

There  was  at  first  a  deep  silence,  and  then  a  rushing  sound,  or  a 
noise  like  a  long  sigh,  proceeding  out  of  the  interior  of  the  earth. 
This  cavity,  you  must  know,  was  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  fountain 
of  truth,  which  sometimes  gushed  out  in  audible  words ;  although, 
for  the  most  part,  these  words  were  such  a  riddle  that  they  might 
just  as  well  have  stayed  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole.  But  Cadmus 
was  more  fortunate  than  many  others  who  went  to  Delphi  in  search 
of  truth.  By  and  by,  the  rushing  noise  began  to  sound  like  articu 
late  language.  It  repeated,  over  and  over  again,  the  following 
sentence,  which,  after  all,  was  so  like  the  vague  whistle  of  a  blast 
of  air,  that  Cadmus  really  did  not  quite  know  whether  it  meant 
anything  or  not :  — 

"  Seek  her  no  more !     Seek  her  no  more  !     Seek  her  no  more ! " 

"  What,  then,  shall  I  do?"  asked  Cadmus. 

For,  ever  since  he  was  a  child,  you  know,  it  had  been  the  great 
object  of  his  life  to  find  his  sister.  From  the  very  hour  that  he  left 
following  the  butterfly  in  the  meadow,  near  his  father's  palace,  he 
had  done  his  best  to  follow  Europa,  over  land  and  sea.  And  now, 


THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH. 


79 


if  he  must  give  up  the  search,  he 
seemed  to  have  no  more  business 
in  the  world. 

But  again  the  sighing  gust  of 
air  grew  into  something  like  a 
hoarse  voice. 

"  Follow  the  cow  !  "  it  said. 
"  Follow  the  cow !  Follow  the 


And  when  these  words  had  been 
repeated  until  Cadmus  was  tired 
of  hearing  them  (especially  as  he 
could  not  imagine  what  cow  it 
was,  or  why  he  was  to  follow 
her),  the  gusty  hole  gave  vent  to 
another  sentence. 

"  Where  the  stray  cow  lies  down, 
there  is  your  home." 

These  words  were  pronounced 
but  a  single  time,  and  died  away 
into  a  whisper  before  Cadmus  was 


80  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

fully  satisfied  that  he  had  caught  the  meaning.  He  put  other 
questions,  but  received  no  answer;  only  the  gust  of  wind  sighed 
continually  out  of  the  cavity,  and  blew  the  withered  leaves  rustling 
along  the  ground  before  it. 

"  Did  there  really  come  any  words  out  of  the  hole  ? "  thought 
Cadmus ;  "  or  have  I  been  dreaming  all  this  while  ?  " 

He  turned  away  from  the  oracle,  and  thought  himself  no  wiser 
than  when  he  came  thither.  Caring  little  what  might  happen  to 
him,  he  took  the  first  path  that  offered  itself,  and  went  along  at  a 
sluggish  pace ;  for,  having  no  object  in  view,  nor  any  reason  to  go 
one  way  more  than  another,  it  would  certainly  have  been  foolish  to 
make  haste.  Whenever  he  met  anybody,  the  old  question  was  at 
his  tongue's  end  :  — 

"  Have  you  seen  a  beautiful  maiden,  dressed  like  a  king's  daugh 
ter,  and  mounted  on  a  snow-white  bull,  that  gallops  as  swiftly  as 
the  wind?" 

But,  remembering  what  the  oracle  had  said,  he  only  half  uttered 
the  words,  and  then  mumbled  the  rest  indistinctly ;  and  from  his 
confusion,  people  must  have  imagined  that  this  handsome  young 
man  had  lost  his  wits. 

I  know  not  how  far  Cadmus  had  gone,  nor  could  he  himself  have 
told  you,  when,  at  no  great  distance  before  him,  he  beheld  a  brindled 
cow.  She  was  lying  down  by  the  wayside,  and  quietly  chewing  her 
cud ;  nor  did  she  take  any  notice  of  the  young  man  until  he  had 
approached  pretty  nigh.  Then,  getting  leisurely  upon  her  feet,  and 
giving  her  head  a  gentle  toss,  she  began  to  move  along  at  a  mod 
erate  pace,  often  pausing  just  long  enough  to  crop  a  mouthful  of 
grass.  Cadmus  loitered  behind,  whistling  idly  to  himself,  and 
scarcely  noticing  the  cow ;  until  the  thought  occurred  to  him, 
whether  this  could  possibly  be  the  animal  which,  according  to  the 
oracle's  response,  was  to  serve  him  for  a  guide.  But  he  smiled  at 
himself  for  fancying  such  a  thing.  He  could  not  seriously  think 
that  this  was  the  cow,  because  she  went  along  so  quietly,  behaving 
just  like  any  other  cow.  Evidently  she  neither  knew  nor  cared  so 
much  as  a  wisp  of  hay  about  Cadmus,  and  was  only  thinking  how 
to  get  her  living  along  the  wayside,  where  the  herbage  was  green 
and  fresh.  Perhaps  she  was  going  home  to  be  milked. 

"  Cow,  cow,  cow !  "  cried  Cadmus.  "  Hey,  Brindle,  hey  !  Stop, 
my  good  cow." 


THE  DRAGON'S    TEETH.  81 

He  wanted  to  come  up  with  the  cow,  so  as  to  examine  her,  and 
see  if  she  would  appear  to  know  him,  or  whether  there  were  any 
peculiarities  to  distinguish  her  from  a  thousand  other  cows,  whose 
only  business  is  to  fill  the  milk-pail,  and  sometimes  kick  it  over. 
But  still  the  brindled  cow  trudged  on,  whisking  her  tail  to  keep  the 
flies  away,  and  taking  as  little  notice  of  Cadmus  as  she  well  could 
If  he  walked  slowly,  so  did  the  cow,  and  seized  the  opportunity  to 
graze.  If  he  quickened  his  pace,  the  cow  went  just  so  much  the 
faster ;  and  once,  when  Cadmus  tried  to  catch  her  by  running,  she 
threw  out  her  heels,  stuck  her  tail  straight  on  end,  and  set  off  at  a 
gallop,  looking  as  queerly  as  cows  generally  do,  while  putting  them 
selves  to  their  speed. 

When  Cadmus  saw  that  it  was  impossible  to  come  up  with  her, 
he  walked  on  moderately,  as  before.  The  cow,  too,  went  leisurely 
on,  without  looking  behind.  Wherever  the  grass  was  greenest, 
there  she  nibbled  a  mouthful  or  two.  Where  a  brook  glistened 
brightly  across  the  path,  there  the  cow  drank,  and  breathed  a  com 
fortable  sigh,  and  drank  again,  and  trudged  onward  at  the  pace 
that  best  suited  herself  and  Cadmus. 

"  I  do  believe,"  thought  Cadmus,  "  that  this  may  be  the  cow  that 
was  foretold  me.  If  it  be  the  one,  I  suppose  she  will  lie  down 
somewhere  hereabouts." 

Whether  it  were  the  oracular  cow  or  some  other  one,  it  did  not 
seem  reasonable  that  she  should  travel  a  great  way  farther.  -So, 
whenever  they  reached  a  particularly  pleasant  spot  on  a  breezy  hill 
side,  or  in  a  sheltered  vale,  or  flowery  meadow,  on  the  shore  of  a 
calm  lake,  or  along  the  bank  of  a  clear  stream,  Cadmus  looked 
eagerly  around  to  see  if  the  situation  would  suit  him  for  a  home. 
But  still,  whether  he  liked  the  place  or  no,  the  brindled  cow  never 
offered  to  lie  down.  On  she  went  at  the  quiet  pace  of  a  cow  going 
homeward  to  the  barn-yard ;  and,  every  moment,  Cadmus  expected 
to  see  a  milkmaid  approaching  with  a  pail,  or  a  herdsman  running 
to  head  the  stray  animal,  and  turn  her  back  towards  the  pasture. 
But  no  milkmaid  came  ;  no  herdsman  drove  her  back  ;  and  Cadmus 
followed  the  stray  Brindle  till  he  was  almost  ready  to  drop  down 
with  fatigue. 

"  O  brindled  cow,"  cried  he,  in  a  tone  of  despair,  "  do  you  never 
mean  to  stop  ?  " 


82  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

He  had  now  grown  too  intent  on  following  her  to  think  of  lagging 
behind,  however  long  the  way,  and  whatever  might  be  his  fatigue. 
Indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  there  were  something  about  the  animal  that 
bewitched  people.  Several  persons  who  happened  to  see  the  brin 
dled  cow,  and  Cadmus  following  behind,  began  to  trudge  after  her, 
precisely  as  he  did.  Cadmus  was  glad  of  somebody  to  converse 
with,  and  therefore  talked  very  freely  to  these  good  people.  He 
told  them  all  his  adventures,  and  how  he  had  left  King  Agenor  in 
his  palace,  and  Phrenix  at  one  place,  and  Cilix  at  another,  and 
Thasus  at  a  third,  and  his  dear  mother,  Queen  Telephassa,  under  a 
flowery  sod ;  so  that  now  he  was  quite  alone,  both  friendless  and 
homeless.  He  mentioned,  likewise,  that  the  oracle  had  bidden  him 
be  guided  by  a  cow,  and  inquired  of  the  strangers  whether  they 
supposed  that  this  brindled  animal  could  be  the  one. 

"  Why,  't  is  a  very  wonderful  affair,"  answered  one  of  his  new 
companions.  "  I  am  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  ways  of  cattle, 
and  I  never  knew  a  cow,  of  her  own  accord,  to  go  so  far  without 
stopping.  If  my  legs  will  let  me,  I  '11  never  leave  following  the 
beast  till  she  lies  down." 

"  Nor  I !  "  said  a  second. 

"  Nor  I  !  "  cried  a  third.  "  If  she  goes  a  hundred  miles  farther, 
I  'm  determined  to  see  the  end  of  it." 

The  secret  of  it  was,  you  must  know,  that  the  cow  was  an  en 
chanted  cow,  and  that,  without  their  being  conscious  of  it,  she 
threw  some  of  her  enchantment  over  everybody  that  took  so  much 
as  half  a  dozen  steps  behind  her.  They  could  not  possibly  help 
following  her,  though,  all  the  time,  they  fancied  themselves  doing 
it  of  their  own  accord.  The  cow  was  by  no  means  very  nice  in 
choosing  her  path  ;  so  that-  sometimes  they  had  to  scramble  over 
rocks,  or  wade  through  mud  and  mire,  and  were  all  in  a  terribly  be 
draggled  condition,  and  tired  to  death,  and  very  hungry,  into  the 
bargain.  What  a  weary  business  it  was  ! 

But  still  they  kept  trudging  stoutly  forward,  and  talking  as  they 
went.  The  strangers  grew  very  fond  of  Cadmus,  and  resolved 
never  to  leave  him,  but  to  help  him  build  a  city  wherever  the  cow 
might  lie  down.  In  the  centre  of  it  there  should  be  a  noble  palace, 
in  which  Cadmus  might  dwell,  and  be  their  king,  with  a  throne,  a 
crown  and  sceptre,  a  purple  robe,  and  everything  else  that  a  king 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  83 

ought  to  have ;  for  in  him  there  was  the  royal  blood,  and  the  royal 
heart,  and  the  head  that  knew  how  to  rule. 

While  they  were  talking  of  these  schemes,  and  beguiling  the 
tediousness  of  the  way  with  laying  out  the  plan  of  the  new  city,  one 
of  the  company  happened  to  look  at  the  cow. 

"  Joy  !  joy  !  "  cried  he,  clapping  his  hands.  "  Brindle  is  going 
to  lie  down." 

They  all  looked ;  and,  sure  enough,  the  cow  had  stopped,  and 
was  staring  leisurely  about  her,  as  other  cows  do  when  on  the  point 
of  lying  down.  And  slowly,  slowly  did  she  recline  herself  on  the 
soft  grass,  first  bending  her  fore  legs  and  then  crouching  her  hind 
ones.  When  Cadmus  and  his  companions  came  up  with  her,  there 
was  the  brindled  cow  taking  her  ease,  chewing  her  cud,  and  look 
ing  them  quietly  in  the  face;  as  if  this  was  just  the  spot  she  had 
been  seeking  for,  and  as  if  it  were  all  a  matter  of  course. 

"  This,  then,"  said  Cadmus,  gazing  around  him,  "  this  is  to  be 
my  home." 

It  was  a  fertile  and  lovely  plain,  with  great  trees  flinging  their 
sun-speckled  shadows  over  it,  and  hills  fencing  it  in  from  the  rough 
weather.  At  no  great  distance,  they  beheld  a  river  gleaming  in  the 
sunshine.  A  home  feeling  stole  into  the  heart  of  poor  Cadmus. 
He  was  very  glad  to  know  that  here  he  might  awake  in  the  morn 
ing,  without  the  necessity  of  putting  on  his  dusty  sandals  to  travel 
farther  and  farther.  The  days  and  the  years  would  pass  over  him, 
and  find  him  still  in  this  pleasant  spot.  If  he  could  have  had  his 
brothers  with  him,  and  his  friend  Thasus,  and  could  have  seen  his 
dear  mother  under  a  roof  of  his  own,  he  might  here  have  been 
happy,  after  all  their  disappointments.  Some  day  or  other,  too,  his 
sister  Europa  might  have  come  quietly  to  the  door  of  his  home,  and 
smiled  round  upon  the  familiar  faces.  But,  indeed,  since  there  was 
no  hope  of  regaining  the  friends  of  his  boyhood,  or  ever  seeing 
his  dear  sister  again,  Cadmus  resolved  to  make  himself  happy  with 
these  new  companions,  who  had  grown  so  fond  of  him  while  follow 
ing  the  cow. 

"  Yes,  my  friends,"  said  he  to  them,  "  this  is  to  be  our  home. 
Here  we  will  build  our  habitations.  The  brindled  cow,  which  has 
led  us  hither,  will  supply  us  with  milk.  We  will  cultivate  the 
neighboring  soil,  and  lead  an  innocent  and  happy  life." 


84  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

His  companions  joyfully  assented  to  this  plan  ;  and,  in  the  first 
place,  being  very  hungry  and  thirsty,  they  looked  about  them  for 
the  means  of  providing  a  comfortable  meal.  Not  far  off,  they  saw 
a  tuft  of  trees,  which  appeared  as  if  there  might  be  a  spring  of 
water  beneath  them.  They  went  thither  to  fetch  some,  leaving 
Cadmus  stretched  on  the  ground  along  with  the  brindled  cow ;  for, 
now  that  he  had  found  a  place  of  rest,  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  weari 
ness  of  his  pilgrimage,  ever  since  he  left  King  Agenor's  palace,  had 
fallen  upon  him  at  once.  But  his  new  friends  had  not  long  been 
gone,  when  he  was  suddenly  startled  by  cries,  shouts,  and  screams, 
and  the  noise  of  a  terrible  struggle,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  a  most 
awful  hissing,  which  went  right  through  his  ears  like  a  rough  saw. 

Running  towards  the  tuft  of  trees,  he  beheld  the  head  and  fiery 
eyes  of  an  immense  serpent  or  dragon,  with  the  widest  jaws  that 
ever  a  dragon  had,  and  a  vast  many  rows  of  horribly  sharp  teeth. 
Before  Cadmus  could  reach  the  spot,  this  pitiless  reptile  had  killed 
his  poor  companions,  and  was  busily  devouring  them,  making  but  a 
mouthful  of  each  man. 

It  appears  that  the  fountain  of  water  was  enchanted,  and  that 
the  dragon  had  been  set  to  guard  it,  so  that  no  mortal  might  ever 
quench  his  thirst  there.  As  the  neighboring  inhabitants  carefully 
avoided  the  spot,  it  was  now  a  long  time  (not  less  than  a  hundred 
years,  or  thereabouts)  since  the  monster  had  broken  his  fast ;  and, 
as  was  natural  enough,  his  appetite  had  grown  to  be  enormous,  and 
was  not  half  satisfied  by  the  poor  people  whom  he  had  just  eaten 
up.  When  he  caught  sight  of  Cadmus,  therefore,  he  set  up  an 
other  abominable  hiss,  and  flung  back  his  immense  jaws,  until  his 
mouth  looked  like  a  great  red  cavern,  at  the  farther  end  of  which 
were  seen  the  legs  of  his  last  victim,  whom  he  had  hardly  had 
time  to  swallow. 

But  Cadmus  was  so  enraged  at  the  destruction  of  his  friends,  that 
he  cared  neither  for  the  size  of  the  dragon's  jaws  nor  for  his  hun 
dreds  of  sharp  teeth.  Drawing  his  sword,  he  rushed  at  the  monster, 
and  flung  himself  right  into  his  cavernous  mouth.  This  bold 
method  of  attacking  him  took  the  dragon  by  surprise ;  for,  in  fact, 
Cadmus  had  leaped  so  far  down  into  his  throat,  that  the  rows  of 
terrible  teeth  could  not  close  upon  him,  nor  do  him  the  least  harm 
in  the  world.  Thus,  though  the  struggle  was  a  tremendous  one, 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  85 

and  though  the  dragon  shattered  the  tuft  of  trees  into  small  splin 
ters  by  the  lashing  of  his  tail,  yet,  as  Cadmus  was  all  the  while 
slashing  and  stabbing  at  his  very  vitals,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
scaly  wretch  bethought  himself  of  slipping  away.  He  had  not  gone 
his  length,  however,  when  the  brave  Cadmus  gave  him  a  sword- 
thrust  that  finished  the  battle ;  and,  creeping  out  of  the  gateway  of 
the  creature's  jaws,  there  he  beheld  him  still  wriggling  his  vast 
bulk,  although  there  was  no  longer  life  enough  in  him  to  harm  a 
little  child. 

But  do  not  you  suppose  that  it  made  Cadmus  sorrowful  to  think 
of  the  melancholy  fate  which  had  befallen  those  poor,  friendly  peo 
ple,  who  had  followed  the  cow  along  with  him  ?  It  seemed  as  if  he 
were  doomed  to  lose  everybody  whom  he  loved,  or  to  see  them  perish 
in  one  way  or  another.  And  here  he  was,  after  all  his  toils  and 
troubles,  in  a  solitary  place,  with  not  a  single  human  being  to  help 
him  build  a  hut. 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  "  cried  he  aloud.  "  It  were  better  for  me  to 
have  been  devoured  by  the  dragon,  as  my  poor  companions  were." 

6<  Cadmus,"  said  a  voice,  —  but  whether  it  came  from  above  or 
below  him,  or  whether  it  spoke  within  his  own  breast,  the  young 
man  could  not  tell,  —  "  Cadmus,  pluck  out  the  dragon's  teeth,  and 
plant  them  in  the  earth." 

This  was  a  strange  thing  to  do ;  nor  was  it  very  easy,  I  should 
imagine,  to  dig  out  all  those  deep-rooted  fangs  from  the  dead 
dragon's  jaws.  But  Cadmus  toiled  and  tugged,  and  after  pounding 
the  monstrous  head  almost  to  pieces  with  a  great  stone,  he  at  last 
collected  as  many  teeth  as  might  have  filled  a  bushel  or  two.  The 
next  thing  was  to  plant  them.  This,  likewise,  was  a  tedious  piece 
of  work,  especially  as  Cadmus  was  already  exhausted  with  killing 
the  dragon  and  knocking  his  head  to  pieces,  and  had  nothing  to  dig 
the  earth  with,  that  I  know  of,  unless  it  were  his  sword-blade. 
Finally,  however,  a  sufficiently  large  tract  of  ground  was  turned  up, 
and  sown  with  this  new  kind  of  seed ;  although  half  of  the  dragon's 
teeth  still  remained  to  be  planted  some  other  day. 

Cadmus,  quite  out  of  breath,  stood  leaning  upon  his  sword,  and 
wondering  what  was  to  happen  next.  He  had  waited  but  a  few 
moments,  when  he  began  to  see  a  sight,  which  was  as  great  a  marvel 
as  the  most  marvellous  thing  I  ever  told  you  about. 


86  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH, 

The  sun  was  shining  slantwise  over  the  field,  and  showed  all  the 
moist,  dark  soil  just  like  any  other  newly  planted  piece  of  ground. 
All  at  once,  Cadmus  fancied  he  saw  something  glisten  very  brightly, 
first  at  one  spot,  then  at  another,  and  then  at  a  hundred  and  a 
thousand  spots  together.  Soon  he  perceived  them  to  be  the  steel 
heads  of  spears,,  sprouting  up  everywhere  like  so  many  stalks  of 
grain,  and  continually  growing  taller  and  taller.  Next  appeared  a 
vast  number  of  bright  sword-blades,  thrusting  themselves  up  in  the 
same  way.  A  moment  afterwards,  the  whole  surface  of  the  ground 
was  broken  up  by  a  multitude  of  polished  brass  helmets,  coming  up 
like  a  crop  of  enormous  beans.  So  rapidly  did  they  grow,  that 
Cadmus  now  discerned  the  fierce  countenance  of  a  man  beneath 
every  one.  In  short,  before  he  had  time  to  think  what  a  wonderful 
affair  it  was,  he  beheld  an  abundant  harvest  of  what  looked  like 
human  beings,  armed  with  helmets  and  breastplates,  shields,  swords, 
and  spears ;  and  before  they  were  well  out  of  the  earth,  they  bran 
dished  their  weapons,  and  clashed  them  one  against  another,  seeming 
to  think,  little  while  as  they  had  yet  lived,  that  they  had  wasted  too 
much  of  life  without  a  battle.  Every  tooth  of  the  dragon  had  pro 
duced  one  of  these  sons  of  deadly  mischief. 

Up  sprouted,  also,  a  great  many  trumpeters ;  and  with  the  first 
breath  that  they  drew,  they  put  their  brazen  trumpets  to  their  lips, 
and  sounded  a  tremendous  and  ear-shattering  blast;  so  that  the 
whole  space,  just  now  so  quiet  and  solitary,  reverberated  with  the 
clash  and  clang  of  arms,  the  bray  of  warlike  music,  and  the  shouts 
of  angry  men.  So  enraged  did  they  all  look,  that  Cadmus  fully 
expected  them  to  put  the  whole  world  to  the  sword.  How  fortunate 
would  it  be  for  a  great  conqueror,  if  he  could  get  a  bushel  of  the 
dragon's  teeth  to  sow ! 

"  Cadmus,"  said  the  same  voice  which  he  had  before  heard, 
"  throw  a  stone  into  the  midst  of  the  armed  men." 

So  Cadmus  seized  a  large  stone,  and,  flinging  it  into  the  middle 
of  the  earth  army,  saw  it  strike  the  breastplate  of  a  gigantic  and 
fierce-looking  warrior.  Immediately  on  feeling  the  blow,  he  seemed 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  somebody  had  struck  him  ;  and,  uplifting 
his  weapon,  he  smote  his  next  neighbor  a  blow  that  cleft  his  helmet 
asunder,  and  stretched  him  on  the  ground.  In  an  instant,  those 
nearest  the  fallen  warrior  began  to  strike  at  one  another  with  their 


CADMUS  THROWING  THE  ROCK.    Page  86. 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH.  89 

swords  and  stab  with  their  spears.  The  confusion  spread  wider  and 
wider.  Each  man  smote  down  his  brother,  and  was  himself  smitten 
down  before  he  had  time  to  exult  in  his  victory.  The  trumpeters, 
all  the  while,  blew  their  blasts  shriller  and  shriller  ;  each  soldier 
shouted  a  battle-cry  and  often  fell  with  it  on  his  lips.  It  was  the 
strangest  spectacle  of  causeless  wrath,  and  of  mischief  for  no  good 
end,  that  had  ever  been  witnessed ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  neither 
more  foolish  nor  more  wicked  than  a  thousand  battles  that  have 
since  been  fought,  in  which  men  have  slain  their  brothers  with  just 
as  little  reason  as  these  children  of  the  dragon's  teeth.  It  ought  to 
be  considered,  too,  that  the  dragon  people  were  made  for  nothing 
else ;  whereas  other  mortals  were  born  to  love  and  help  one  another. 

Well,  this  memorable  battle  continued  to  rage  until  the  ground 
was  strewn  with  helmeted  heads  that  had  been  cut  off.  Of  all  the 
thousands  that  began  the  fight,  there  were  only  five  left  standing. 
These  now  rushed  from  different  parts  of  the  field,  and,  meeting  in 
the  middle  of  it,  clashed  their  swords,  and  struck  at  each  other's 
hearts  as  fiercely  as  ever. 

"  Cadmus,"  said  the  voice  again,  "  bid  those  five  warriors  sheathe 
their  swords.  They  will  help  you  to  build  the  city." 

Without  hesitating  an  instant,  Cadmus  stepped  forward,  with  the 
aspect  of  a  king  and  a  leader,  and  extending  his  drawn  sword 
amongst  them,  spoke  to  the  warriors  in  a  stern  and  commanding 
voice.  "  Sheathe  your  weapons ! "  said  he. 

And  forthwith,  feeling  themselves  bound  to  obey  him,  the  five 
remaining  sons  of  the  dragon's  teeth  made  him  a  military  salute 
with  their  swords,  returned  them  to  the  scabbards,  and  stood  before 
Cadmus  in  a  rank,  eyeing  him  as  soldiers  eye  their  captain,  while 
awaiting  the  word  of  command. 

These  five  men  had  probably  sprung  from  the  biggest  of  the 
dragon's  teeth,  and  were  the  boldest  and  strongest  of  the  whole 
army.  They  were  almost  giants,  indeed,  and  had  good  need  to  be 
so,  else  they  never  could  have  lived  through  so  terrible  a  fight. 
They  still  had  a  very  furious  look,  and,  if  Cadmus  happened  to 
glance  aside,  would  glare  at  one  another,  with  fire  flashing  out  of 
their  eyes.  It  was  strange,  too,  to  observe  how  the  earth,  out  of 
which  they  had  so  lately  grown,  was  incrusted,  here  and  there,  on 
their  bright  breastplates,  and  even  begrimed  their  faces,  just  as  you 


90  THE  DRAGON'S  TEETH. 

may  have  seen  it  clinging  to  beets  and  carrots  when  pulled  out  of 
their  native  soil.  Cadmus  hardly  knew  whether  to  consider  them  as 
men,  or  some  odd  kind  of  vegetable ;  although,  on  the  whole,  he 
concluded  that  there  was  human  nature  in  them,  because  they  were 
so  fond  of  trumpets  and  weapons,  and  so  ready  to  shed  blood. 

They  looked  him  earnestly  in  the  face,  waiting  for  his  next  order, 
and  evidently  desiring  no  other  employment  than  to  follow  him 
from  one  battle-field  to  another,  all  over  the  wide  world.  But  Cad 
mus  was  wiser  than  these  earth-born  creatures,  with  the  dragon's 
fierceness  in  them,  and  knew  better  how  to  use  their  strength  and 
hardihood.  "  Come  !  "  said  he.  "  You  are  sturdy  fellows.  Make 
yourselves  useful !  Quarry  some  stones  with  those  great  swords  of 
yours,  and  help  me  to  build  a  city." 

The  five  soldiers  grumbled  a  little,  and  muttered  that  it  was  their 
business  to  overthrow  cities,  not  to  build  them  up.  But  Cadmus 
looked  at  them  with  a  stern  eye,  and  spoke  to  them  in  a  tone  of 
authority,  so  that  they  knew  him  for  the  master,  and  never  again 
thought  of  disobeying  his  commands.  They  set  to  work  in  good 
earnest,  and  toiled  so  diligently,  that,  in  a  very  short  time,  a  city 
began  to  make  its  appearance.  At  first,  to  be  sure,  the  workmen 
showed  a  quarrelsome  disposition.  Like  savage  beasts,  they  would 
doubtless  have  done  one  another  mischief,  if  Cadmus  had  not  kept 
watch  over  them  and  quelled  the  fierce  old  serpent  that  lurked  in 
their  hearts,  when  he  saw  it  gleaming  out  of  their  wild  eyes.  But, 
in  course  of  time,  they  got  accustomed  to  honest  labor,  and  had 
sense  enough  to  feel  that  there  was  more  true  enjoyment  in  living 
at  peace,  and  doing  good  to  one's  neighbor,  than  in  striking  at  him 
with  a  two-edged  sword.  It  may  not  be  too  much  to  hope  that  the 
rest  of  mankind  will  by  and  by  grow  as  wise  and  peaceable  as  these 
five  earth-begrimed  warriors,  who  sprang  from  the  dragon's  teeth. 

And  now  the  city  was  built,  and  there  was  a  home  in  it  for  each 
of  the  workmen.  But  the  palace  of  Cadmus  was  not  yet  erected, 
because  they  had  left  it  till  the  last,  meaning  to  introduce  all  the 
new  improvements  of  architecture,  and  make  it  very  commodious, 
as  well  as  stately  and  beautiful.  After  finishing  the  rest  of  their 
labors,  they  all  went  to  bed  betimes,  in  order  to  rise  in  the  gray  of 
the  morning,  and  get  at  least  the  foundation  of  the  edifice  laid  be 
fore  night-fall.  But  when  Cadmus  arose,  and  took  his  way  towards 


THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 


91 


the  site  where  the  palace  was  to  be  built,  followed  by  his  five  sturdy 
workmen  marching  all  in  a  row,  what  do  you  think  he  saw  ? 

What  should  it  be  but  the  most  magnificent  palace  that  had 
ever  been  seen  in  the  world?  It  was  built  of  marble  and  other 
beautiful  kinds  of  stone,  and  rose  high  into  the  air,  with  a  splendid 
dome  and  a  portico  along  the  front,  and  carved  pillars,  and  every 
thing  else  that  befitted  the  habitation  of  a  mighty  king.  It  had 
grown  up  out  of  the  earth  in  almost  as  short  a  time  as  it  had  taken 
the  armed  host  to  spring  from  the  dragon's  teeth  ;  and  what  made 


the  matter  more  strange,  no  seed  of  this  stately  edifice  had  ever 
been  planted. 

When  the  five  workmen  beheld  the  dome,  with  the  morning  sun 
shine  making  it  look  golden  and  glorious,  they  gave  a  great  shout. 
"  Long  live  King  Cadmus,"  they  cried,  "  in  his  beautiful  palace." 
And  the  new  king,  with  his  five  faithful  followers  at  his  heels, 
shouldering  their  pickaxes  and  marching  in  a  rank  (for  they  still 
had  a  sort  of  soldier-like  behavior,  as  their  nature  was),  ascended 
the  palace  steps.  Halting  at  the  entrance,  they  gazed  through  a 
long  vista  of  lofty  pillars  that  were  ranged  from  end  to  end  of  a 
great  hall.  At  the  farther  extremity  of  this  hall,  approaching  slowly 
towards  him,  Cadmus  beheld  a  female  figure,  wonderfully  beautiful, 
and  adorned  with  a  royal  robe,  and  a  crown  of  diamonds  over  her 


92  THE  DRAGON'S   TEETH. 

golden  ringlets,  and  the  richest  necklace  that  ever  a  queen  wore. 
His  heart  thrilled  with  delight.  He  fancied  it  his  long-lost  sister 
Europa,  now  grown  to  womanhood,  coming  to  make  him  happy, 
and  to  repay  him,  with  her  sweet  sisterly  affection,  for  all  those 
weary  wanderings  in  quest  of  her  since  he  left  King  Agenor's 
palace,  —  for  the  tears  that  he  had  shed,  on  parting  with  Phoenix, 
and  Cilix,  and  Thasus,  —  for  the  heartbreakings  that  had  made 
the  whole  world  seem  dismal  to  him  over  his  dear  mother's  grave. 

But,  as  Cadmus  advanced  to  meet  the  beautiful  stranger,  he  saw 
that  her  features  were  unknown  to  him,  although,  in  the  little  time 
that  it  required  to  tread  along  the  hall,  he  had  already  felt  a  sym 
pathy  betwixt  himself  and  her. 

"  No,  Cadmus,"  said  the  same  voice  that  had  spoken  to  him  in 
the  field  of  the  armed  men,  "  this  is  not  that  dear  sister  Europa 
whom  you  have  sought  so  faithfully  all  over  the  wide  world.  This 
is  Harmonia,  a  daughter  of  the  sky,  who  is  given  you  instead  of 
sister,  and  brothers,  and  friend,  and  mother.  You  will  find  all 
those  dear  ones  in  her  alone." 

So  King  Cadmus  dwelt  in  the  palace,  with  his  new  friend  Har 
monia,  and  found  a  great  deal  of  comfort  in  his  magnificent  abode, 
but  would  doubtless  have  found  as  much,  if  not  more,  in  the 
humblest  cottage  by  the  wayside.  Before  many  years  went  by, 
there  was  a  group  of  rosy  little  children  (but  how  they  came  thither 
has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me)  sporting  in  the  great  hall,  and  on 
the  marble  steps  of  the  palace,  and  running  joyfully  to  meet  King 
Cadmus  when  affairs  of  state  left  him  at  leisure  to  play  with  them. 
They  called  him  father,  and  Queen  Harmonia  mother.  The  five 
old  soldiers  of  the  dragon's  teeth  grew  very  fond  of  these  small 
urchins,  and  were  never  weary  of  showing  them  how  to  shoulder 
sticks,  flourish  wooden  swords,  and  march  in  military  order,  blow 
ing  a  penny  trumpet,  or  beating  an  abominable  rub-a-dub  upon  a 
little  drum. 

But  King  Cadmus,  lest  there  should  be  too  much  of  the  dragon's 
tooth  in  his  children's  disposition,  used  to  find  time  from  his  kingly 
duties  to  teach  them  their  ABC,  —  which  he  invented  for  their 
benefit,  and  for  which  many  little  people,  I  am  afraid,  are  not  half 
so  grateful  to  him  as  they  ought  to  be. 


SOME  of  you  have  heard,  no  doubt,  of  the  wise  King  Ulysses,  and 
how  he  went  to  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  how,  after  that  famous  city 
was  taken  and  burned,  he  spent  ten  long  years  in  trying  to  get  back 
again  to  his  own  little  kingdom  of  Ithaca.  At  one  time  in  the 
course  of  this  weary  voyage,  he  arrived  at  an  island  that  looked  very 
green  and  pleasant,  but  the  name  of  which  was  unknown  to  him. 
For,  only  a  little  while  before  he  came  thither,  he  had  met  with  a 
terrible  hurricane,  or  rather  a  great  many  hurricanes  at  once,  which 
drove  his  fleet  of  vessels  into  a  strange  part  of  the  sea,  where  neither 
himself  nor  any  of  his  mariners  had  ever  sailed.  This  misfortune 
was  entirely  owing  to  the  foolish  curiosity  of  his  shipmates,  who, 
while  Ulysses  lay  asleep,  had  untied  some  very  bulky  leathern  bags, 
in  which  they  supposed  a  valuable  treasure  to  be  concealed.  But 
in  each  of  these  stout  bags,  King  ^Eolus,  the  ruler  of  the  winds, 
had  tied  up  a  tempest,  and  had  given  it  to  Ulysses  to  keep,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  sure  of  a  favorable  passage  homeward  to  Ithaca ; 
and  when  the  strings  were  loosened,  forth  rushed  the  whistling 
blasts,  like  air  out  of  a  blown  bladder,  whitening  the  sea  with  foam, 
and  scattering  the  vessels  nobody  could  tell  whither. 

Immediately  after  escaping  from  this  peril,  a  still  greater  one  had 
befallen  him.  Scudding  before  the  hurricane,  he  reached  a  place, 
which,  as  he  afterwards  found,  was  called  Laestrygonia,  where  some 
monstrous  giants  had  eaten  up  many  of  his  companions,  and  had 


94  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

sunk  every  one  of  his  vessels,  except  that  in  which  he  himself  sailed, 
by  flinging  great  masses  of  rock  at  them,  from  the  cliffs  along  the 
shore.  After  going  through  such  troubles  as  these,  you  cannot 
wonder  that  King  Ulysses  was  glad  to  moor  his  tempest-beaten  bark 
in  a  quiet  cove  of  the  green  island,  which  I  began  with  telling  you 
about.  But  he  had  encountered  so  many  dangers  from  giants,  and 
one-eyed  Cyclopes,  and  monsters  of  the  sea  and  land,  that  he  could 
not  help  dreading  some  mischief,  even  in  this  pleasant  and  seemingly 
solitary  spot.  For  two  days,  therefore,  the  poor  weather-worn  voy 
agers  kept  quiet,  and  either  stayed  on  board  of  their  vessel,  or 
merely  crept  along  under  cliffs  that  bordered  the  shore  ;  and  to  keep 
themselves  alive,  they  dug  shell-fish  out  of  the  sand,  and  sought  for 
any  little  rill  of  fresh  water  that  might  be  running  towards  the  sea. 

Before  the  two  days  were  spent,  they  grew  very  weary  of  this 
kind  of  life ;  for  the  followers  of  King  Ulysses,  as  you  will  find  it 
important  to  remember,  were  terrible  gormandizers,  and  pretty  sure 
to  grumble  if  they  missed  their  regular  meals,  and  their  irregular 
ones  besides.  Their  stock  of  provisions  was  quite  exhausted,  and 
even  the  shell-fish  began  to  get  scarce,  so  that  they  had  now  to 
choose  between  starving  to  death  or  venturing  into  the  interior  of 
the  island,  where,  perhaps,  some  huge  three-headed  dragon,  or  other 
horrible  monster,  had  his  den.  Such  misshapen  creatures  were  very 
numerous  in  those  days ;  and  nobody  ever  expected  to  make  a  voy 
age,  or  take  a  journey,  without  running  more  or  less  risk  of  being 
devoured  by  them. 

But  King  Ulysses  was  a  bold  man  as  well  as  a  prudent  one ;  and 
on  the  third  morning  he  determined  to  discover  what  sort  of  a  place 
the  island  was,  and  whether  it  were  possible  to  obtain  a  supply  of 
food  for  the  hungry  mouths  of  his  companions.  So,  taking  a  spear 
in  his  hand,  he  clambered  to  the  summit  of  a  cliff,  and  gazed  round 
about  him.  At  a  distance,  towards  the  centre  of  the  island,  he 
beheld  the  stately  towers  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  palace,  built  of 
snow-white  marble,  and  rising  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  lofty  trees. 
The  thick  branches  of  these  trees  stretched  across  the  front  of  the 
edifice,  and  more  than  half  concealed  it,  although,  from  the  portion 
which  he  saw,  Ulysses  judged  it  to  be  spacious  and  exceedingly 
beautiful,  and  probably  the  residence  of  some  great  nobleman  or 
prince.  A  blue  smoke  went  curling  up  from  the  chimney,  and  was 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  95 

almost  the  pleasantest  part  of  the  spectacle  to  Ulysses.  For,  from 
the  abundance  of  this  smoke,  it  was  reasonable  to  conclude  that 
there  was  a  good  fire  in  the  kitchen,  and  that,  at  dinner-time,  a 
plentiful  banquet  would  be  served  up  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
palace,  and  to  whatever  guests  might  happen  to  drop  in. 

With  so  agreeable  a  prospect  before  him,  Ulysses  fancied  that  he 
could  not  do  better  than  to  go  straight  to  the  palace  gate,  and  tell 
the  master  of  it  that  there  was  a  crew  of  poor  shipwrecked  mariners, 
not  far  off,  who  had  eaten  nothing  for  a  day  or  two  save  a  few  clams 
and  oysters,  and  would  therefore  be  thankful  for  a  little  food.  And 
the  prince  or  nobleman  must  be  a  very  stingy  curmudgeon,  to  be 
sure,  if,  at  least,  when  his  own  dinner  was  over,  he  would  not  bid 
them  welcome  to  the  broken  victuals  from  the  table. 

Pleasing  himself  with  this  idea,  King  Ulysses  had  made  a  few 
steps  in  the  direction  of  the  palace,  when  there  was  a  great  twittering 
and  chirping  from  the  branch  of  a  neighboring  tree.  A  moment 
afterwards,  a  bird  came  flying  towards  him,  and  hovered  in  the  air, 
so  as  almost  to  brush  his  face  with  its  wings.  It  was  a  very  pretty 
little  bird,  with  purple  wings  and  body,  and  yellow  legs,  and  a  circle 
of  golden  feathers  round  its  neck,  and  on  its  head  a  golden  tuft, 
which  looked  like  a  king's  crown  in  miniature.  Ulysses  tried  to 
catch  the  bird.  But  it  fluttered  nimbly  out  of  his  reach,  still  chirp 
ing  in  a  piteous  tone,  as  if  it  could  have  told  a  lamentable  story, 
had  it  only  been  gifted  with  human  language.  And  when  he 
attempted  to  drive  it  away,  the  bird  flew  no  farther  than  the  bough 
of  the  next  tree,  and  again  came  fluttering  about  his  head,  with  its 
doleful  chirp,  as  soon  as  he  showed  a  purpose  of  going  forward. 

"Have  you  anything  to  tell  me,  little  bird?"  asked  Ulysses. 

And  he  was  ready  to  listen  attentively  to  whatever  the  bird  might 
communicate ;  for  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  elsewhere,  he  had 
known  such  odd  things  to  happen,  that  he  would  not  have  con 
sidered  it  much  out  of  the  common  run  had  this  little  feathered 
creature  talked  as  plainly  as  himself. 

"  Peep  !  "  said  the  bird,  "  peep,  peep,  pe — weep  !  "  And  nothing 
else  would  it  say,  but  only,  "  Peep,  peep,  pe — weep  !  "  in  a  melan 
choly  cadence,  over  and  over  and  over  again.  As  often  as  Ulysses 
moved  forward,  however,  the  bird  showed  the  greatest  alarm,  and  did 
its  best  to  drive  him  back,  with  the  anxious  flutter  of  its  purple  wings. 


96  CfJtCE'S  PALACE. 

Its  unaccountable  behavior  made  him  conclude,  at  last,  that  the 
bird  knew  of  some  danger  that  awaited  him,  and  which  must  needs 
be  very  terrible,  beyond  all  question,  since  it  moved  even  a  little 
fowl  to  feel  compassion  for  a  human  being.  So  he  resolved,  for  the 
present,  to  return  to  the  vessel,  and  tell  his  companions  what  he 
had  seen. 

This  appeared  to  satisfy  the  bird.  As  soon  as  Ulysses  turned 
back,  it  ran  up  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and  began  to  pick  insects  out  of 
the  bark  with  its  long,  sharp  bill ;  for  it  was  a  kind  of  woodpecker, 
you  must  know,  and  had  to  get  its  living  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  birds  of  that  species.  But  every  little  while,  as  it  pecked  at 
the  bark  of  the  tree,  the  purple  bird  bethought  itself  of  some  secret 
sorrow,  and  repeated  its  plaintive  note  of  "  Peep,  peep,  pe — weep  !  " 

On  his  way  to  the  shore,  Ulysses  had  the  good  luck  to  kill  a  large 
stag  by  thrusting  his  spear  into  its  back.  Taking  it  on  his  shoul 
ders  (for  he  was  a  remarkably  strong  man),  he  lugged  it  along  with 
him,  and  flung  it  down  before  his  hungry  companions.  I  have 
already  hinted  to  you  what  gormandizers  some  of  the  comrades  of 
King  Ulysses  were.  From  what  is  related  of  them,  I  reckon  that 
their  favorite  diet  was  pork,  and  that  they  had  lived  upon  it  until  a 
good  part  of  their  physical  substance  was  swine's  flesh,  and  their 
tempers  and  dispositions  were  very  much  akin  to  the  hog.  A  dish 
of  venison,  however,  was  no  unacceptable  meal  to  them,  especially 
after  feeding  so  long  on  oysters  and  clams.  So,  beholding  the  dead 
stag,  they  felt  of  its  ribs  in  a  knowing  way,  and  lost  no  time  in 
kindling  a  fire,  of  drift-wood,  to  cook  it.  The  rest  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  feasting ;  and  if  these  enormous  eaters  got  up  from  table 
at  sunset,  it  was  only  because  they  could  not  scrape  another  morsel 
off  the  poor  animal's  bones. 

The  next  morning  their  appetites  were  as  sharp  as  ever.  They 
looked  at  Ulysses,  as  if  they  expected  him  to  clamber  up  the  cliff 
again,  and  come  back  with  another  fat  deer  upon  his  shoulders. 
Instead  of  setting  out,  however,  he  summoned  the  whole  crew  to 
gether,  and  told  them  it  was  in  vain  to  hope  that  he  could  kill  a 
stag  every  day  for  their  dinner,  and  therefore  it  was  advisable  to 
think  of  some  oilier  mode  of  satisfying  their  hunger. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  when  I  was  on  the  cliff  yesterday,  I  discovered 
that  this  island  is  inhabited.  At  a  considerable  distance  from  the 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  97 

shore  stood  a  marble  palace,  which  appeared  to  be  very  spacious, 
and  had  a  great  deal  of  smoke  curling  out  of  one  of  its  chimneys." 

"  Aha  !  "  muttered  some  of  his  companions,  smacking  their  lips. 
"  That  smoke  must  have  come  from  the  kitchen  fire.  There  was 
a  good  dinner  on  the  spit ;  and  no  doubt  there  will  be  as  good  a 
one  to-day." 

"  But,"  continued  the  wise  Ulysses,  "  you  must  remember,  my 
good  friends,  our  misadventure  in  the  cavern  of  one-eyed  Polyphe 
mus,  the  Cyclops  !  Instead  of  his  ordinary  milk  diet,  did  he  not  eat 
up  two  of  our  comrades  for  his  supper,  and  a  couple  more  for  break 
fast,  and  two  at  his  supper  again  ?  Methinks  I  see  him  yet,  the 
hideous  monster,  scanning  us  with  that  great  red  eye,  in  the  middle  of 
his  forehead,  to  single  out  the  fattest.  And  then  again  only  a  few 
days  ago,  did  we  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  king  of  the  Laestry- 
gons,  and  those  other  horrible  giants,  his  subjects,  who  devoured  a 
great  many  more  of  us  than  are  now  left  ?  To  tell  you  the  truth,  if 
we  go  to  yonder  palace,  there  can  be  no  question  that  we  shall  make 
our  appearance  at  the  dinner-table ;  but  whether  seated  as  guests, 
or  served  up  as  food,  is  a  point  to  be  seriously  considered." 

"  Either  way,"  murmured  some  of  the  hungriest  of  the  crew,  "  it 
will  be  better  than  starvation ;  particularly  if  one  could  be  sure  of 
being  well  fattened  beforehand,  and  daintily  cooked  afterwards." 

"  That  is  a  matter  of  taste,"  said  King  Ulysses,  "  and,  for  my 
own  part,  neither  the  most  careful  fattening  nor  the  daintiest  of 
cookery  would  reconcile  me  to  being  dished  at  last.  My  proposal  is, 
therefore,  that  we  divide  ourselves  into  two  equal  parties,  and  ascer 
tain,  by  drawing  lots,  which  of  the  two  shall  go  to  the  palace,  and 
beg  for  food  and  assistance.  If  these  can  be  obtained,  all  is  welL 
If  not,  and  if  the  inhabitants  prove  as  inhospitable  as  Polyphemus, 
or  the  Lsestrygons,  then  there  will  but  half  of  us  perish,  and  the  re 
mainder  may  set  sail  and  escape." 

As  nobody  objected  to  this  scheme,  Ulysses  proceeded  to  count 
the  whole  band,  and  found  that  there  vere  forty-six  men  including 
himself.  He  then  numbered  off  twenty-two  of  them,  and  put  Filiry." 
lochus  (who  was  one  of  his  chief  officers,  and  second  only  to  himself 
in  sagacity)  at  their  head.  Ulysses  took  command  of  the  remaining 
twenty-two  men,  in  person.  Then,  taking  off  his  helmet,  he  put 
two  shells  into  it,  on  one  of  which  was  written,  "  Go,"  and  on  the 


98  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

other  "  Stay."  Another  person  now  held  the  helmet,  while  Ulysses 
and  Eurylochus  drew  out  each  a  shell ;  and  the  word  "  Go  "  was 
found  written  on  that  which  Eurylochus  had  drawn.  In  this  man 
ner,  it  was  decided  that  Ulysses  and  his  twenty-two  men  were  to  re 
main  at  the  seaside  until  the  other  party  should  have  found  out 
what  sort  of  treatment  they  might  expect  at  the  mysterious  palace. 

As  there  was  no  help  for  it,  Eurylochus  immediately  set  forth  at 
the  head  of  his  twenty-two  followers,  who  went  off  in  a  very  melan 
choly  state  of  mind,  leaving  their  friends  in  hardly  better  spirits 
than  themselves. 

No  sooner  had  they  clambered  up  the  cliff,  than  they  discerned 
the  tall  marble  towers  of  the  palace,  ascending,  as  white  as  snow, 
out  of  the  lovely  green  shadow  of  the  trees  which  surrounded  it. 
A  gush  of  smoke  came  from  a  chimney  in  the  rear  of  the  edifice. 
This  vapor  rose  high  in  the  air,  and,  meeting  with  a  breeze,  was 
wafted  seaward,  and  made  to  pass  over  the  heads  of  the  hungry 
mariners.  When  people's  appetites  are  keen,  they  have  a  very 
quick  scent  for  anything  savory  in  the  wind. 

"  That  smoke  comes  from  the  kitchen !  "  cried  one  of  them,  turn 
ing  up  his  nose  as  high  as  he  could,  and  snuffing  eagerly.  "  And, 
as  sure  as  I  'm  a  half-starved  vagabond,  I  smell  roast  meat  in  it." 

"  Pig,  roast  pig  !  "  said  another.  "  Ah,  the  dainty  little  porker  ! 
My  mouth  Avaters  for  him." 

"Let  us  make  haste,"  cried  the  others,  aor  we  shall  be  too  late 
for  the  good  cheer !  " 

But  scarcely  had  they  made  half  a  dozen  steps  from  the  edge  of 
the  cliff,  when  a  bird  came  fluttering  to  meet  them.  It  was  the 
same  pretty  little  bird,  with  the  purple  wings  and  body,  the  yellow 
legs,  the  golden  collar  round  its  neck,  and  the  crown-like  tuft  upon 
its  head,  whose  behavior  had  so  much  surprised  Ulysses.  It  hov 
ered  about  Eurylochus,  and  almost  brushed  his  face  with  its  wings. 

"  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep  !  "  chirped  the  bird. 

So  plaintively  intelligent  was  the  sound,  that  it  seemed  as  if  the 
little  creature  were  going  to  break  its  heart  with  some  mighty 
secret  that  it  had  to  tell,  and  only  this  one  poor  note  to  tell  it  with. 

"  My  pretty  bird,"  said  Eurylochus,  — for  he  was  a  wary  person, 
and  let  no  token  of  harm  escape  his  notice,  —  "  my  pretty  bird,  who 
sent  you  hither  ?  And  what  is  the  message  which  you  bring  ?  " 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  99 

"  Peep,  peep,  pe — weep  !  "  replied  the  bird,  very  sorrowfully. 

Then  it  flew  toward  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  and  looked  round  at 
them,  as  if  exceedingly  anxious  that  they  should  return  whence  they 
came.  Eurylochus  and  a  few  of  the  others  were  inclined  to  turn 
back.  They  could  not  help  suspecting  that  the  purple  bird  must 
be  aware  of  something  mischievous  that  would  befall  them  at  the 
palace,  and  the  knowledge  of  which  affected  its  airy  spirit  with  a 
human  sympathy  and  sorrow.  But  the  rest  of  the  voyagers,  snuff 
ing  up  the  smoke  from  the  palace  kitchen,  ridiculed  the  idea  of  re 
turning  to  the  vessel.  One  of  them  (more  brutal  than  his  fellows, 
and  the  most  notorious  gormandizer  in  the  whole  crew)  said  such  a 
cruel  and  wicked  thing,  that  I  wonder  the  mere  thought  did  not 
turn  him  into  a  wild  beast  in  shape,  as  he  already  was  in  his  nature. 

"  This  troublesome  and  impertinent  little  fowl,"  said  he,  "  would 
make  a  delicate  tidbit  to  begin  dinner  with.  Just  one  plump  mor 
sel,  melting  away  between  the  teeth.  If  he  comes  within  my  reach, 
I  '11  catch  him,  and  give  him  to  the  palace  cook  to  be  roasted  on  a 
skewer." 

The  words  were  hardly  out  of  his  mouth,  before  the  purple  bird 
flew  away,  crying,  "  Peep,  peep,  pe — weep,"  more  dolorously  than 
ever. 

"  That  bird,"  remarked  Eurylochus,  "  knows  more  than  we  do 
about  what  awaits  us  at  the  palace." 

"  Come  on,  then,"  cried  his  comrades,  "  and  we  '11  soon  know  as 
much  as  he  does." 

The  party,  accordingly,  went  onward  through  the  green  and 
pleasant  wood.  Every  little  while  they  caught  new  glimpses  of  the 
marble  palace,  which  looked  more  and  more  beautiful  the  nearer 
they  approached  it.  They  soon  entered  a  broad  pathway,  which 
seemed  to  be  very  neatly  kept,  and  which  went  winding  along  with 
streaks  of  sunshine  falling  across  it,  and  specks  of  light  quivering 
among  the  deepest  shadows  that  fell  from  the  lofty  trees.  It  was 
bordered,  too,  with  a  great  many  sweet-smelling  flowers,  such  as  the 
mariners  had  never  seen  before.  So  rich  and  beautiful  they  were, 
that,  if  the  shrubs  grew  wild  here,  and  were  native  in  the  soil,  then 
this  island  was  surely  the  flower-garden  of  the  whole  earth :  or,  if 
transplanted  from  some  other  clime,  it  must  have  been  from  the 
Happy  Islands  that  lay  towards  the  golden  sunset. 


100  CIRCE'S   PALACE. 

"  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  pains  foolishly  wasted  on  these 
flowers,"  observed  one  of  the  company;  and  I  tell  you  what  he  said, 
that  you  may  keep  in  mind  what  gormandizers  they  were.  "  For 
my  part,  if  I  were  the  owner  of  the  palace,  I  would  bid  my  gardener 
cultivate  nothing  but  savory  potherbs  to  make  a  stuffing  for  roast 
meat,  or  to  flavor  a  stew  with." 

"  Well  said  ! "  cried  the  others.  "  But  I  '11  warrant  you  there 's 
a  kitchen-garden  in  the  rear  of  the  palace." 

At  one  place  they  came  to  a  crystal  spring,  and  paused  to  drink 
at  it  for  want  of  liquor  which  they  liked  better.  Looking  into  its 
bosom,  they  beheld  their  own  faces  dimly  reflected,  but  so  extrava 
gantly  distorted  by  the  gash  and  motion  of  the  water,  that  each  one 
of  them  appeared  to  be  laughing  at  himself  and  all  his  companions. 
So  ridiculous  were  these  images  of  themselves,  indeed,  that  they  did 
really  laugh  aloud,  and  could  hardly  be  grave  again  as  soon  as  they 
wished.  And  after  they  had  drank,  they  grew  still  merrier  than 
before. 

"  It  has  a  twang  of  the  wine-cask  in  it,"  said  one,  smacking  his 
lips. 

"  Make  haste ! "  cried  his  fellows  ;  "  we  '11  find  the  wine  -  cask 
itself  at  the  palace ;  and  that  will  be  better  than  a  hundred  crystal 
fountains." 

Then  they  quickened  their  pace,  and  capered  for  joy  at  the 
thought  of  the  savory  banquet  at  which  they  hoped  to  be  guests;  but 
Eurylochus  told  them  that  he  felt  as  if  he  were  walking  in  a  dream. 

"  If  I  am  really  awake,"  continued  he,  "  then,  in  my  opinion,  we 
are  on  the  point  of  meeting  with  some  stranger  adventure  than  any 
that  befell  us  in  the  cave  of  Polyphemus,  or  among  the  gigantic 
man-eating  La3strygons,  or  in  the  windy  palace  of  King  ^Eolus, 
which  stands  on  a  brazen-walled  island.  This  kind  of  dreamy  feel 
ing  always  comes  over  me  before  any  wonderful  occurrence.  If  you 
take  my  advice,  you  will  turn  back." 

"  No,  no,"  answered  his  comrades,  snuffing  the  air,  in  which  the 
scent  from  the  palace  kitchen  was  now  very  perceptible.  "  We 
would  not  turn  back,  though  we  were  certain  that  the  king  of  the 
Lsestrygons,  as  big  as  a  mountain,  would  sit  at  the  head  of  the  table, 
and  huge  Polyphemus,  the  one-eyed  Cyclops,  at  its  foot." 

At  length  they  came  within  full  sight  of  the  palace,  which  proved 


CIRCE'S   PALACE.  103 

to  be  very  large  and  lofty,  with  a  great  number  of  airy  pinnacles 
upon  its  roof.  Though  it  was  now  midday,  and  the  sun  shone 
brightly  over  the  marble  front,  yet  its  snowy  whiteness,  and  its  fan 
tastic  style  of  architecture,  made  it  look  unreal,  like  the  frostwork 
on  a  window-pane,  or  like  the  shapes  of  castles  which  one  sees  among 
the  clouds  by  moonlight.  But,  just  then,  a  puff  of  wind  brought 
down  the  smoke  of  the  kitchen  chimney  among  them,  and  caused 
each  man  to  smell  the  odor  of  the  dish  that  he  liked  best ;  and, 
after  scenting  it,  they  thought  everything  else  moonshine,  and  noth 
ing  real  save  this  palace,  and  save  the  banquet  that  was  evidently 
ready  to  be  served  up  in  it. 

So  they  hastened  their  steps  toward  the  portal,  but  had  not  got 
half-way  across  the  wide  lawn,  when  a  pack  of  lions,  tigers,  and 
wolves  came  bounding  to  meet  them.  The  terrified  mariners  started 
back,  expecting  no  better  fate  than  to  be  torn  to  pieces  and  de 
voured.  To  their  surprise  and  joy,  however,  these  wild  beasts  merely 
capered  around  them,  wagging  their  tails,  offering  their  heads  to  be 
stroked  and  patted,  and  behaving  just  like  so  many  well-bred  house 
dogs  when  they  wish  to  express  their  delight  at  meeting  their  master, 
or  their  master's  friends.  The  biggest  lion  licked  the  feet  of  Eury- 
lochus  ;  and  every  other  lion,  and  every  wolf  and  tiger,  singled  out 
one  of  his  two-and-twenty  followers,  whom  the  beast  fondled  as  if 
he  loved  him  better  than  a  beef-bone. 

But,  for  all  that,  Eurylochus  imagined  that  he  saw  something 
fierce  and  savage  in  their  eyes ;  nor  would  he  have  been  surprised, 
at  any  moment,  to  feel  the  big  lion's  terrible  claws,  or  to  see  each 
of  the  tigers  make  a  deadly  spring,  or  each  wolf  leap  at  the  throat 
of  the  man  whom  he  had  fondled.  Their  mildness  seemed  unreal, 
and  a  mere  freak ;  but  their  savage  nature  was  as  true  as  their  teeth 
and  claws. 

Nevertheless,  the  men  went  safely  across  the  lawn  with  the  wild 
beasts  frisking  about  them,  and  doing  no  manner  of  harm ;  although, 
as  they  mounted  the  steps  of  the  palace,  you  might  possibly  have 
heard  a  low  growl,  particularly  from  the  wolves ;  as  if  they  thought 
it  a  pity,  after  all,  to  let  the  strangers  pass  without  so  much  as  tast 
ing  what  they  were  made  of. 

Eurylochus  and  his  followers  now  passed  under  a  lofty  portal, 
and  looked  through  the  open  doorway  into  the  interior  of  the  palace, 


104  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

The  first  thing  that  they  saw  was  a  spacious  hall,  and  a  fountain  in 
the  middle  of  it,  gushing  up  towards  the  ceiling  out  of  a  marble 
basin,  and  falling  back  into  it  with  a  continual  plash.  The  water 
of  this  fountain,  as  it  spouted  upward,  was  constantly  taking  new 
shapes,  not  very  distinctly,  but  plainly  enough  for  a  nimble  fancy 
to  recognize  what  they  were.  Now  it  was  the  shape  of  a  man  in  a 
long  robe,  the  fleecy  whiteness  of  which  was  made  out  of  the  foun 
tain's  spray ;  now  it  was  a  lion,  or  a  tiger,  or  a  wolf,  or  an  ass,  or, 
as  often  as  anything  else,  a  hog,  wallowing  in  the  marble  basin  as  if 
it  were  his  sty.  It  was  either  magic  or  some  very  curious  machinery 
that  caused  the  gushing  waterspout  to  assume  all  these  forms.  But, 
before  the  strangers  had  time  to  look  closely  at  this  wonderful  sight, 
their  attention  was  drawn  oif  by  a  very  sweet  and  agreeable  sound. 
A  woman's  voice  was  singing  melodiously  in  another  room  of  the 
palace,  and  with  her  voice  was  mingled  the  noise  of  a  loom,  at  which 
she  was  probably  seated,  weaving  a  rich  texture  of  cloth,  and  inter 
twining  the  high  and  low  sweetness  of  her  voice  into  a  rich  tissue 
of  harmony. 

By  and  by,  the  song  came  to  an  end  ;  and  then,  all  at  once,  there 
were  several  feminine  voices,  talking  airily  and  cheerfully,  with  now 
and  then  a  merry  burst  of  laughter,  such  as  you  may  always  hear 
when  three  or  four  young  women  sit  at  work  together. 

"  What  a  sweet  song  that  was !  "  exclaimed  one  of  the  voyagers. 

"  Too  sweet,  indeed,"  answered  Eurylochus,  shaking  his  head. 
"  Yet  it  was  not  so  sweet  as  the  song  of  the  Sirens,  those  birdlike 
damsels  who  wanted  to  tempt  us  on  the  rocks,  so  that  our  vessel 
might  be  wrecked,  and  our  bones  left  whitening  along  the  shore." 

"  But  just  listen  to  the  pleasant  voices  of  those  maidens,  and  that 
buzz  of  the  loom,  as  the  shuttle  passes  to  and  fro,"  said  another 
comrade.  "What  a  domestic,  household,  homelike  sound  it  is  !  Ah, 
before  that  weary  siege  of  Troy,  I  used  to  hear  the  buzzing  loom 
and  the  women's  voices  under  my  own  roof.  Shall  I  never  hear 
them  again  ?  nor  taste  those  nice  little  savory  dishes  which  my  dear 
est  wife  knew  how  to  serve  up  ?  " 

"  Tush  !  we  shall  fare  better  here,"  said  another.  "  But  how  in 
nocently  those  women  are  babbling  together,  without  guessing  that 
we  overhear  them !  And  mark  that  richest  voice  of  all,  so  pleasant 
and  familiar,  but  which  yet  seems  to  have  the  authority  of  a  mistress 


CIRCE'S   PALACE.  105 

among  them.  Let  us  show  ourselves  at  once.  What  harm  can  the 
lady  of  the  palace  and  her  maidens  do  to  mariners  and  warriors  like 
us?" 

"  Remember,"  said  Eurylochus,  "  that  it  was  a  young  maiden  who 
beguiled  three  of  our  friends  into  the  palace  of  the  king  of  the 
Lsestrygons,  who  ate  up  one  of  them  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye." 

No  warning  or  persuasion,  however,  had  any  effect  on  his  com 
panions.  They  went  up  to  a  pair  of  folding-doors  at  the  farther 
end  of  the  hall,  and,  throwing  them  wide  open,  passed  into  the  next 
room.  Eurylochus,  meanwhile,  had  stepped  behind  a  pillar.  In 
the  short  moment  while  the  folding-doors  opened  and  closed  again, 
he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  very  beautiful  woman  rising  from  the  loom, 
and  coming  to  meet  the  poor  weather-beaten  wanderers,  with  a 
hospitable  smile,  and  her  hand  stretched  out  in  welcome.  There 
were  four  other  young  women,  who  joined  their  hands  and  danced 
merrily  forward,  making  gestures  of  obeisance  to  the  strangers. 
They  were  only  less  beautiful  than  the  lady  who  seemed  to  be  their 
mistress.  Yet  Eurylochus  fancied  that  one  of  them  had  sea-green 
hair,  and  that  the  close-fitting  bodice  of  a  second  looked  like  the 
bark  of  a  tree,  and  that  both  the  others  had  something  odd  in  their 
aspect,  although  he  could  not  quite  determine  what  it  was,  in  the 
little  while  that  he  had  to  examine  them. 

The  folding-doors  swung  quickly  back,  and  left  him  standing  be 
hind  the  pillar,  in  the  solitude  of  the  outer  hall.  There  Eurylochus 
waited  until  he  was  quite  weary,  and  listened  eagerly  to  every  sound, 
but  without  hearing  anything  that  could  help  him  to  guess  what 
had  become  of  his  friends.  Footsteps,  it  is  true,  seemed  to  be  pass 
ing  and  repassing  in  other  parts  of  the  palace.  Then  there  was  a 
clatter  of  silver  dishes,  or  golden  ones,  which  made  him  imagine  a 
rich  feast  in  a  splendid  banqueting-hall.  But  by  and  by  he  heard  a 
tremendous  grunting  and  squealing,  and  then  a  sudden  scampering, 
like  that  of  small,  hard  hoofs  over  a  marble  floor,  while  the  voices 
of  the  mistress  and  her  four  handmaidens  were  screaming  all  to 
gether,  in  tones  of  anger  and  derision.  Eurylochus  could  not  con 
ceive  what  had  happened,  unless  a  drove  of  swine  had  broken  into 
the  palace,  attracted  by  the  smell  of  the  feast.  Chancing  to  cast 
his  eyes  at  the  fountain,  he  saw  that  it  did  not  shift  its  shape,  as 
formerly,  nor  looked  either  like  a  long-robed  man,  or  a  lion,  a  tiger, 


106  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

a  wolf,  or  an  ass.  It  looked  like  nothing  but  a  hog,  which  lay  wal 
lowing  in  the  marble  basin,  and  filled  it  from  brim  to  brim. 

But  we  must  leave  the  prudent  Eurylochus  waiting  in  the  outer 
hall,  and  follow  his  friends  into  the  inner  secrecy  of  the  palace.  As 
soon  as  the  beautiful  woman  saw  them,  she  arose  from  the  loom,  as 
I  have  told  you,  and  came  forward,  smiling,  and  stretching  out  her 
hand.  She  took  the  hand  of  the  foremost  among  them,  and  bade 
him  and  the  whole  party  welcome. 

"  You  have  been  long  expected,  my  good  friends,"  said  she.  "  I 
and  my  maidens  are  well  acquainted  with  you,  although  you  do  not 
appear  to  recognize  us.  Look  at  this  piece  of  tapestry,  and  judge 
if  your  faces  must  not  have  been  familiar  to  us." 

So  the  voyagers  examined  the  web  of  cloth  which  the  beautiful 
woman  had  been  weaving  in  her  loom ;  and,  to  their  vast  astonish 
ment,  they  saw  their  own  figures  perfectly  represented  in  different 
colored  threads.  It  was  a  lifelike  picture  of  their  recent  adventures, 
showing  them  in  the  cave  of  Polyphemus,  and  how  they  had  put 
out  his  one  great  moony  eye ;  while  in  another  part  of  the  tapestry 
they  were  untying  the  leathern  bags,  puffed  out  with  contrary  winds  ; 
and  farther  on,  they  beheld  themselves  scampering  away  from  the 
gigantic  king  of  the  La3strygons,  who  had  caught  one  of  them  by 
the  leg.  Lastly,  there  they  were,  sitting  on  the  desolate  shore  of  this 
very  island,  hungry  and  downcast,  and  looking  ruefully  at  the  bare 
bones  of  the  stag  which  they  devoured  yesterday.  This  was  as  far  as 
the  work  had  yet  proceeded ;  but  when  the  beautiful  woman  should 
again  sit  down  at  her  loom,  she  would  probably  make  a  picture  of 
what  had  since  happened  to  the  strangers,  and  of  what  was  now 
going  to  happen. 

"  You  see,"  she  said,  "  that  I  know  all  about  your  troubles ;  and 
you  cannot  doubt  that  I  desire  to  make  you  happy  for  as  long  a  time 
as  you  may  remain  with  me.  For  this  purpose,  my  honored  guests, 
I  have  ordered  a  banquet  to  be  prepared.  Fish,  fowl,  and  flesh, 
roasted,  and  in  luscious  stews,  and  seasoned,  I  trust,  to  all  your  tastes, 
are  ready  to  be  served  up.  If  your  appetites  tell  you  it  is  dinner 
time,  then  come  with  me  to  the  festal  saloon." 

At  this  kind  invitation,  the  hungry  mariners  were  quite  overjoyed ; 
and  one  of  them,  taking  upon  himself  to  be  spokesman,  assured 
their  hospitable  hostess  that  any  hour  of  the  day  was  dinner-time 


CIRCE'S   PALACE.  107 

with  them,  whenever  they  could  get  flesh  to  put  in  the  pot,  and  fire 
to  boil  it  with.  So  the  beautiful  woman  led  the  way  ;  and  the  four 
maidens  (one  of  them  had  sea-green  hair,  another  a  bodice  of  oak 
bark,  a  third  sprinkled  a  shower  of  water-drops  from  her  fingers' 
ends,  and  the  fourth  had  some  oddity,  which  I  have  forgotten),  all 
these  followed  behind,  and  hurried  the  guests  along,  until  they  en 
tered  a  magnificent  saloon.  It  was  built  in  a  perfect  oval,  and 
lighted  from  a  crystal  dome  above.  Around  the  walls  were  ranged 
two-and-twenty  thrones,  overhung  by  canopies  of  crimson  and  gold, 
and  provided  with  the  softest  of  cushions,  which  were  tasselled  and 
fringed  with  gold  cord.  Each  of  the  strangers  was  invited  to  sit 
down ;  and  there  they  were,  two-and-twenty  storm-beaten  mariners, 
in  worn  and  tattered  garb,  sitting  on  two-and-twenty  cushioned  and 
canopied  thrones,  so  rich  and  gorgeous  that  the  proudest  monarch 
had  nothing  more  splendid  in  his  stateliest  hall. 

Then  you  might  have  seen  the  guests  nodding,  winking  with  one 
eye,  and  leaning  from  one  throne  to  another,  to  communicate  their 
satisfaction  in  hoarse  whispers. 

"  Our  good  hostess  has  made  kings  of  us  all,"  said  one.  "  Ha  ! 
do  you  smell  the  feast  ?  I  '11  engage  it  will  be  fit  to  set  before  two- 
and-twenty  kings." 

"  I  hope,"  said  another,  "  it  will  be,  mainly,  good  substantial 
joints,  sirloins,  spareribs,  and  hinder  quarters,  without  too  many 
kickshaws.  If  I  thought  the  good  lady  would  not  take  it  amiss,  I 
should  call  for  a  fat  slice  of  fried  bacon  to  begin  with." 

Ah,  the  gluttons  and  gormandizers !  You  see  how  it  was  with 
them.  In  the  loftiest  seats  of  dignity,  on  royal  thrones,  they  could 
think  of  nothing  but  their  greedy  appetite,  which  was  the  portion 
of  their  nature  that  they  shared  with  wolves  and  swine  ;  so  that  they 
resembled  those  vilest  of  animals  far  more  than  they  did  kings,  — 
if,  indeed,  kings  were  what  they  ought  to  be. 

But  the  beautiful  woman  now  clapped  her  hands ;  and  immedi 
ately  there  entered  a  train  of  two-and-twenty  serving-men,  bringing 
dishes  of  the  richest  food,  all  hot  from  the  kitchen  fire,  and  sending 
up  such  a  steam  that  it  hung  like  a  cloud  below  the  crystal  dome  of 
the  saloon.  An  equal  number  of  attendants  brought  great  flagons 
of  wine,  of  various  kinds,  some  of  which  sparkled  as  it  was  poured 
out.  and  went  bubbling  down  the  throat ;  while,  of  other  sorts,  the 


108  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

purple  liquor  was  so  clear  that  you  could  see  the  wrought  figures  at 
the  bottom  of  the  goblet.  While  the  servants  supplied  the  two-and- 
twenty  guests  with  food  and  drink,  the  hostess  and  her  four  maidens 
went  from  one  throne  to  another,  exhorting  them  to  eat  their  fill, 
and  to  quaff  wine  abundantly,  and  thus  to  recompense  themselves, 
at  this  one  banquet,  for  the  many  days  when  they  had  gone  without 
a  dinner.  But  whenever  the  mariners  were  not  looking  at  them 
(which  was  pretty  often,  as  they  looked  chiefly  into  the  basins  and 
platters),  the  beautiful  woman  and  her  damsels  turned  aside  and 
laughed.  Even  the  servants,  as  they  knelt  down  to  present  the 
dishes,  might  be  seen  to  grin  and  sneer,  while  the  guests  were  help 
ing  themselves  to  the  offered  dainties. 

And,  once  in  a  while,  the  strangers  seemed  to  taste  something 
that  they  did  not  like. 

"  Here  is  an  odd  kind  of  a  spice  in  this  dish,"  said  one.  "  I  can't 
say  it  quite  suits  my  palate.  Down  it  goes,  however.'' 

"  Send  a  good  draught  of  wine  down  your  throat,"  said  his  com 
rade  on  the  next  throne.  "  That  is  the  stuff  to  make  this  sort  of 
cookery  relish  well.  Though  I  must  needs  say,  the  wine  has  a  queer 
taste  too.  But  the  more  I  drink  of  it  the  better  I  like  the  flavor." 

Whatever  little  fault  they  might  find  with  the  dishes,  they  sat  at 
dinner  a  prodigiously  long  while ;  and  it  would  really  have  made 
you  ashamed  to  see  how  they  swilled  down  the  liquor  and  gobbled 
up  the  food.  They  sat  on  golden  thrones,  to  be  sure ;  but  they 
behaved  like  pigs  in  a  sty ;  and,  if  they  had  had  their  wits  about 
them,  they  might  have  guessed  that  this  was  the  opinion  of  their 
beautiful  hostess  and  her  maidens.  It  brings  a  blush  into  my  face 
to  reckon  up,  in  my  own  mind,  what  mountains  of  meat  and  pud 
ding,  and  what  gallons  of  wine,  these  two-and-twenty  guzzlers  and 
gormandizers  ate  and  drank.  They  forgot  all  about  their  homes, 
and  their  wives  and  children,  and  all  about  Ulysses,  and  everything 
else,  except  this  banquet,  at  which  they  wanted  to  keep  feasting 
forever.  But  at  length  they  began  to  give  over,  from  mere  in 
capacity  to  hold  any  more. 

"  That  last  bit  of  fat  is  too  much  for  me,"  said  one. 

"  And  I  have  not  room  for  another  morsel,"  said  his  next  neigh 
bor,  heaving  a  sigh.  "  What  a  pity !  My  appetite  is  as  sharp  as  ever." 

In  short,  they  all  left  off  eating,  and  leaned  back  on  their  thrones, 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  Ill 

with  such  a  stupid  and  helpless  aspect  as  made  them  ridiculous  to 
behold.  When  their  hostess  saw  this,  she  laughed  aloud ;  so  did 
her  four  damsels;  so  did  the  two-and-twenty  serving-men  that  bore 
the  dishes,  and  their  two-and-twenty  fellows  that  poured  out  the 
wine.  And  the  louder  they  all  laughed,  the  more  stupid  and  help 
less  did  the  two-and-twenty  gormandizers  look.  Then  the  beautiful 
woman  took  her  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  saloon,  and  stretching 
out  a  slender  rod  (it  had  been  all  the  while  in  her  hand,  although 
they  never  noticed  it  till  this  moment),  she  turned  it  from  one  guest 
to  another,  until  each  had  felt  it  pointed  at  himself.  Beautiful  as 
her  face  was,  and  though  there  was  a  smile  on  it,  it  looked  just  as 
wicked  and  mischievous  as  the  ugliest  serpent  that  ever  was  seen ; 
and  fat-witted  as  the  voyagers  had  made  themselves,  they  began  to 
suspect  that  they  had  fallen  into  the  power  of  an  evil-minded  en 
chantress. 

"  Wretches,"  cried  she,  "  you  have  abused  a  lady's  hospitality ; 
and  in  this  princely  saloon  your  behavior  has  been  suited  to  a  hog 
pen.  You  are  already  swine  in  everything  but  the  human  form, 
which  you  disgrace,  and  which  I  myself  should  be  ashamed  to  keep 
a  moment  longer,  were  you  to  share  it  with  me.  But  it  will  require 
only  the  slightest  exercise  of  magic  to  make  the  exterior  conform  to 
the  hoggish  disposition.  Assume  your  proper  shapes,  gormandizers, 
and  begone  to  the  sty  !  " 

Uttering  these  last  words,  she  waved  her  wand ;  and  stamping 
her  foot  imperiously,  each  of  the  guests  was  struck  aghast  at  be 
holding,  instead  of  his  comrades  in  human  shape,  one-and-twenty 
hogs  sitting  on  the  same  number  of  golden  thrones.  Each  man  (as 
he  still  supposed  himself  to  be)  essayed  to  give  a  cry  of  surprise,  but 
found  that  he  could  merely  grunt,  arid  that,  in  a  word,  he  was  just 
such  another  beast  as  his  companions.  It  looked  so  intolerably 
absurd  to  see  hogs  on  cushioned  thrones,  that  they  made  haste  to 
wallow  down  upon  all  fours,  like  other  swine.  They  tried  to  groan 
and  beg  for  mercy,  but  forthwith  emitted  the  most  awful  grunting 
and  squealing  that  ever  came  out  of  swinish  throats.  They  would 
have  wrung  their  hands  in  despair,  but,  attempting  to  do  so,  grew 
all  the  more  desperate  for  seeing  themselves  squatted  on  their  hams, 
and  pawing  the  air  with  their  fore  trotters.  Dear  me  !  what  pen 
dulous  ears  they  had !  what  little  red  eyes,  half  buried  in  fat !  and 
what  long  snouts,  instead  of  Grecian  noses ! 


112  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

But  brutes  as  they  certainly  were,  they  yet  had  enough  of  human 
nature  in  them  to  be  shocked  at  their  own  hideousness  ;  and,  still 
intending  to  groan,  they  uttered  a  viler  grunt  and  squeal  than  be 
fore.  So  harsh  and  ear-piercing  it  was,  that  you  would  have  fan 
cied  a  butcher  was  sticking  his  knife  into  each  of  their  throats,  or, 
at  the  very  least,  that  somebody  was  pulling  every  hog  by  his  funny 
little  twist  of  a  tail. 

"  Begone  to  your  sty  !  "  cried  the  enchantress,  giving  them  some 
smart  strokes  with  her  wand ;  and  then  she  turned  to  the  serving- 
men,  "  Drive  out  these  swine,  and  throw  down  some  acorns  for  them 
to  eat." 

The  door  of  the  saloon  being  flung  open,  the  drove  of  hogs  ran 
in  all  directions  save  the  right  one,  in  accordance  with  their  hoggish 
perversity,  but  were  finally  driven  into  the  back  yard  of  the  palace. 
It  was  a  sight  to  bring  tears  into  one's  eyes  (arid  I  hope  none  of 
you  will  be  cruel  enough  to  laugh  at  it),  to  see  the  poor  creatures 
go  snuffing  along,  picking  up  here  a  cabbage  leaf  and  there  a  turnip- 
top,  and  rooting  their  noses  in  the  earth  for  whatever  they  could 
find.  In  their  sty,  moreover,  they  behaved  more  piggishly  than  the 
pigs  that  had  been  born  so ;  for  they  bit  and  snorted  at  one  an 
other,  put  their  feet  in  the  trough,  and  gobbled  up  their  victuals  in 
a  ridiculous  hurry ;  and,  when  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  had, 
they  made  a  great  pile  of  themselves  among  some  unclean  straw, 
and  fell  fast  asleep.  If  they  had  any  human  reason  left,  it  was  just 
enough  to  keep  them  wondering  when  they  should  be  slaughtered, 
and  what  quality  of  bacon  they  should  make. 

Meantime,  as  I  told  you  before,  Eurylochus  had  waited,  and 
waited,  and  waited,  in  the  entrance-hall  of  the  palace,  without  being 
able  to  comprehend  what  had  befallen  his  friends.  At  last,  when 
the  swinish  uproar  resounded  through  the  palace,  and  when  he  saw 
the  image  of  a  hog  in  the  marble  basin,  he  thought  it  best  to  has 
ten  back  to  the  vessel,  and  inform  the  wise  Ulysses  of  these  mar 
vellous  occurrences.  So  he  ran  as  fast  as  he  could  down  the  steps, 
and  never  stopped  to  draw  breath  till  he  reached  the  shore. 

"  Why  do  you  come  alone  ?  "  asked  King  Ulysses,  as  soon  as  he 
saw  him.  "  Where  are  your  two-and-twenty  comrades  ?  " 

At  these  questions,  Eurylochus  burst  into  tears. 

"  Alas  !  "  cried  he,  "  I  greatly  fear  that  we  shall  never  see  one  of 
their  faces  again." 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  113 

Then  he  told  Ulysses  all  that  had  happened,  as  far  as  he  knew  it, 
and  added  that  he  suspected  the  beautiful  woman  to  be  a  vile  en 
chantress,  and  the  marble  palace,  magnificent  as  it  looked,  to  be 
only  a  dismal  cavern  in  reality.  As  for  his  companions,  he  could 
not  imagine  what  had  become  of  them,  unless  they  had  been  given 
to  the  swine  to  be  devoured  alive.  At  this  intelligence  all  the  voy 
agers  were  greatly  affrighted.  But  Ulysses  lost  no  time  in  girding 
on  his  sword,  and  hanging  his  bow  and  quiver  over  his  shoulders, 
and  taking  a  spear  in  his  right  hand.  When  his  followers  saw  their 
wise  leader  making  these  preparations,  they  inquired  whither  he  was 
going,  and  earnestly  besought  him  not  to  leave  them. 

"  You  are  our  king,"  cried  they ;  "  and  what  is  more,  you  are  the 
wisest  man  in  the  whole  world,  and  nothing  but  your  wisdom  and 
courage  can  get  us  out  of  this  danger.  If  you  desert  us,  and  go  to 
the  enchanted  palace,  you  will  suffer  the  same  fate  as  our  poor  com 
panions,  and  not  a  soul  of  us  will  ever  see  our  dear  Ithaca  again." 

"  As  I  am  your  king,"  answered  Ulysses,  "  and  wiser  than  any  of 
you,  it  is  therefore  the  more  my  duty  to  see  what  has  befallen  our 
comrades,  and  whether  anything  can  yet  be  done  to  rescue  them. 
Wait  for  me  here  until  to-morrow.  If  I  do  not  then  return,  you 
must  hoist  sail,  and  endeavor  to  find  your  way  to  our  native  land. 
For  my  part,  I  am  answerable  for  the  fate  of  those  poor  mariners, 
who  have  stood  by  my  side  in  battle,  and  been  so  often  drenched  to 
the  skin,  along  with  me,  by  the  same  tempestuous  surges.  I  will 
either  bring  them  back  with  me,  or  perish." 

Had  his  followers  dared,  they  would  have  detained  him  by  force. 
But  King  Ulysses  frowned  sternly  on  them,  and  shook  his  spear, 
and  bade  them  stop  him  at  their  peril.  Seeing  him  so  deter 
mined,  they  let  him  go,  and  sat  down  on  the  sand,  as  disconsolate  a 
set  of  people  as  could  be,  waiting  and  praying  for  his  return. 

It  happened  to  Ulysses,  just  as  before,  that,  when  he  had  gone  a 
few  steps  from  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  the  purple  bird  came  fluttering 
toward  him,  crying,  "  Peep,  peep,  pe  —  weep  !  "  and  using  all  the 
art  it  could  to  persuade  him  to  go  no  farther. 

"  What  mean  you,  little  bird  ? "  cried  Ulysses.  "  You  are  ar 
rayed  like  a  king  in  purple  and  gold,  and  wear  a  golden  crown 
upon  your  head.  Is  it  because  I  too  am  a  king,  that  you  desire  so 
earnestly  to  speak  with  me?  If  you  can  talk  in  human  language, 
say  what  you  would  have  me  do." 


114  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

"  Peep  !  "  answered  the  purple  bird,  very  dolorously.  "  Peep,  peep, 
pe  —  we  —  ep  !  " 

Certainly  there  lay  some  heavy  anguish  at  the  little  bird's  heart ; 
and  it  was  a  sorrowful  predicament  that  he  could  not,  at  least,  have 
the  consolation  of  telling  what  it  was.  But  Ulysses  had  no  time  to 
waste  in  trying  to  get  at  the  mystery.  He  therefore  quickened  his 
pace,  and  had  gone  a  good  way  along  the  pleasant  wood-path,  when 
there  met  him  a  young  man  of  very  brisk  and  intelligent  aspect, 
and  clad  in  a  rather  singular  garb.  He  wore  a  short  cloak,  and  a 
sort  of  cap  that  seemed  to  be  furnished  with  a  pair  of  wings;  and 
from  the  lightness  of  his  step,  you  would  have  supposed  that  there 
might  likewise  be  wings  on  his  feet.  To  enable  him  to  walk  still 
better  (for  he  was  always  on  one  journey  or  another),  he  carried  a 
winged  staff,  around  which  two  serpents  were  wriggling  and  twist 
ing.  In  short,  I  have  said  enough  to  make  you  guess  that  it  was 
Quicksilver ;  and  Ulysses  (who  knew  him  of  old,  and  had  learned  a 
great  deal  of  his  wisdom  from  him)  recognized  him  in  a  moment. 

"  Whither  are  you  going  in  such  a  hurry,  wise  Ulysses  ?  "  asked 
Quicksilver.  "  Do  you  not  know  that  this  island  is  enchanted  ? 
The  wicked  enchantress  (whose  name  is  Circe,  the  sister  of  King 
^Eetes)  dwells  in  the  marble  palace  which  you  see  yonder  among 
the  trees.  By  her  magic  arts,  she  changes  every  human  being  into 
the  brute,  beast,  or  fowl  whom  he  happens  most  to  resemble." 

"  That  little  bird,  which  met  me  at  the  edge  of  the  cliff,"  ex 
claimed  Ulysses  ;  "  was  he  a  human  being  once  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Quicksilver.  "  He  was  once  a  king,  named 
Picus,  and  a  pretty  good  sort  of  a  king  too,  only  rather  too  proud 
of  his  purple  robe,  and  his  crown,  and  the  golden  chain  about  his 
neck  ;  so  he  was  forced  to  take  the  shape  of  a  gaudy-feathered  bird. 
The  lions,  and  wolves,  and  tigers,  who  will  come  running  to  meet 
you,  in  front  of  the  palace,  were  formerly  fierce  and  cruel  men,  re 
sembling  in  their  dispositions  the  wild  beasts  whose  forms  they  now 
rightfully  wear." 

"  And  my  poor  companions,"  said  Ulysses.  "  Have  they  under 
gone  a  similar  change,  through  the  arts  of  this  wicked  Circe  ?  " 

"  You  well  know  what  gormandizers  they  were,"  replied  Quick 
silver  ;  and,  rogue  that  he  was,  he  could  not  help  laughing  at  the 
joke.  "  So  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  they  have  all 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  115 

taken  the  shapes  of  swine !  If  Circe  had  never  done  anything 
worse,  I  really  should  not  think  her  so  much  to  blame." 

"  But  can  I  do  nothing  to  help  them?"  inquired  Ulysses. 

"  It  will  require  all  your  wisdom,"  said  Quicksilver,  "  and  a  little 
of  my  own  into  the  bargain,  to  keep  your  royal  and  sagacious  self 
from  being  transformed  into  a  fox.  But  do  as  I  bid  you ;  and  the 
matter  may  end  better  than  it  has  begun." 

While  he  was  speaking-.  Quicksilver  seemed  to  be  in  search  of 
something ;  he  went  stooping  along  the  ground,  and  soon  laid  his 
hand  on  a  little  plant  with  a  snow-white  flower,  which  he  plucked 
and  smelt  of.  Ulysses  had  been  looking  at  that  very  spot  only  just 
before ;  and  it  appeared  to  him  that  the  plant  had  burst  into  full 
flower  the  instant  when  Quicksilver  touched  it  with  his  fingers. 

"  Take  this  flower,  King  Ulysses,"  said  he.  "  Guard  it  as  you 
do  your  eyesight ;  for  I  can  assure  you  it  is  exceedingly  rare  and 
precious,  and  you  might  seek  the  whole  earth  over  without  ever 
finding  another  like  it.  Keep  it  in  your  hand,  and  smell  of  it  fre 
quently  after  you  enter  the  palace,  and  while  you  are  talking  with 
the  enchantress.  Especially  when  she  offers  you  food,  or  a  draught 
of  wine  out  of  her  goblet,  be  careful  to  fill  your  nostrils  with  the 
flower's  fragrance.  Follow  these  directions,  and  you  may  defy  her 
magic  arts  to  change  you  into  a  fox." 

Quicksilver  then  gave  him  some  further  advice  how  to  behave, 
and,  bidding  him  be  bold  and  prudent,  again  assured  him  that, 
powerful  as  Circe  was,  he  would  have  a  fair  prospect  of  coming 
safely  out  of  her  enchanted  palace.  After  listening  attentively, 
Ulysses  thanked  his  good  friend,  and  resumed  his  way.  But  he  had 
taken  only  a  few  steps,  when,  recollecting  some  other  questions 
which  he  wished  to  ask,  he  turned  round  again,  and  beheld  nobody 
on  the  spot  where  Quicksilver  had  stood ;  for  that  winged  cap  of 
his,  and  those  winged  shoes,  with  the  help  of  the  winged  staff,  had 
carried  him  quickly  out  of  sight. 

When  Ulysses  reached  the  lawn,  in  front  of  the  palace,  the  lions 
and  other  savage  animals  came  bounding  to  meet  him,  and  would 
have  fawned  upon  him  and  licked  his  feet.  But  the  wise  king 
struck  at  them  with  his  long  spear,  and  sternly  bade  them  begone 
out  of  his  path ;  for  he  knew  that  they  had  once  been  bloodthirsty 
men,  and  would  now  tear  him  limb  from  limb,  instead  of  fawning 


116  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

upon  him,  could  they  do  the  mischief  that  was  in  their  hearts.  The 
wild  beasts  yelped  and  glared  at  him,  and  stood  at  a  distance  while 
he  ascended  the  palace  steps. 

On  entering  the  hall,  Ulysses  saw  the  magic  fountain  in  the  centre 
of  it.  The  up-gushing  water  had  now  again  taken  the  shape  of  a 
man  in  a  long,  white,  fleecy  robe,  who  appeared  to  be  making  ges 
tures  of  welcome.  The  king  likewise  heard  the  noise  of  the  shuttle 
in  the  loom,  and  the  sweet  melody  of  the  beautiful  woman's  song, 
and  then  the  pleasant  voices  of  herself  and  the  four  maidens  talk 
ing  together,  with  peals  of  merry  laughter  intermixed.  But  Ulysses 
did  not  waste  any  time  in  listening  to  the  laughter  or  the  song. 
He  leaned  his  spear  against  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  hall,  and  then, 
after  loosening  his  sword  in  the  scabbard,  stepped  boldly  forward, 
and  threw  the  folding-doors  wide  open.  The  moment  she  beheld 
his  stately  figure  standing  in  the  doorway,  the  beautiful  woman 
rose  from  the  loom,  and  ran  to  meet  him  with  a  glad  smile  throwing 
its  sunshine  over  her  face,  and  both  her  hands  extended. 

"  Welcome,  brave  stranger  !  "  cried  she.  "  We  were  expecting 
you." 

And  the  nymph  with  the  sea-green  hair  made  a  courtesy  down  to 
the  ground,  and  likewise  bade  him  welcome ;  so  did  her  sister  with 
the  bodice  of  oaken  bark ;  and  she  that  sprinkled  dew-drops  from 
her  fingers'  ends,  and  the  fourth  one  with  some  oddity  which  I  can 
not  remember.  And  Circe,  as  the  beautiful  enchantress  was  called 
(who  had  deluded  so  many  persons  that  she  did  not  doubt  of  being 
able  to  delude  Ulysses,  not  imagining  how  wise  he  was),  again  ad 
dressed  him. 

"  Your  companions,"  said  she,  "  have  already  been  received  into 
my  palace,  and  ha.ve  enjoyed  the  hospitable  treatment  to  which  the 
propriety  of  their  behavior  so  well  entitles  them.  If  such  be  your 
pleasure,  you  shall  first  take  some  refreshment,  and  then  join  them 
in  the  elegant  apartment  which  they  now  occupy.  See,  I  and  my 
maidens  have  been  weaving  their  figures  into  this  piece  of  tapestry." 

She  pointed  to  the  web  of  beautifully  woven  cloth  in  the  loom. 
Circe  and  the  four  nymphs  must  have  been  very  diligently  at  work 
since  the  arrival  of  the  mariners ;  for  a  great  many  yards  of  tapes 
try  had  now  been  wrought,  in  addition  to  what  I  before  described. 
In  this  new  part,  Ulysses  saw  his  two-and-twenty  friends  represented 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  117 

as  sitting  on  cushioned  and  canopied  thrones,  greedily  devouring 
dainties  and  quaffing  deep  draughts  of  wine.  The  work  had  not 
yet  gone  any  further.  Oh  no,  indeed.  The  enchantress  was  far 
too  cunning  to  let  Ulysses  see  the  mischief  which  her  magic  arts 
had  since  brought  upon  the  gormandizers. 

"  As  for  yourself,  valiant  sir,"  said  Circe,  "  judging  by  the  dig 
nity  of  your  aspect,  I  take  you  to  be  nothing  less  than  a  king 
Deign  to  follow  me,  and  you  shall  be  treated  as  befits  your  rank." 

So  Ulysses  followed  her  into  the  oval  saloon,  where  his  two-and- 
twenty  comrades  had  devoured  the  banquet,  which  ended  so  disas 
trously  for  themselves.  But,  all  this  while,  he  had  held  the  snow- 
white  flower  in  his  hand,  and  had  constantly  smelt  of  it  while  Circe 
was  speaking;  and  as  he  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  saloon,  he 
took  good  care  to  inhale  several  long  and  deep  snuffs  of  its  frag 
rance.  Instead  of  two-and-twenty  thrones,  which  had  been  before 
ranged  around  the  wall,  there  was  now  only  a  single  throne,  in  the 
centre  of  the  apartment.  But  this  was  surely  the  most  magnificent 
seat  that  ever  a  king  or  an  emperor  reposed  himself  upon,  all  made 
of  chased  gold,  studded  with  precious  stones,  with  a  cushion  that 
looked  like  a  soft  heap  of  living  roses,  and  overhung  by  a  canopy 
of  sunlight  which  Circe  knew  how  to  weave  into  drapery.  The  en 
chantress  took  Ulysses  by  the  hand,  and  made  him  sit  down  upon 
this  dazzling  throne.  Then,  clapping  her  hands,  she  summoned  the 
chief  butler. 

"  Bring  hither,"  said  she,  "  the  goblet  that  is  set  apart  for  kings 
to  drink  out  of.  And  fill  it  with  the  same  delicious  wine  which  my 
royal  brother,  King  ^Eetes,  praised  so  highly,  when  he  last  visited 
me  with  my  fair  daughter  Medea.  That  good  and  amiable  child  ! 
Were  she  now  here,  it  would  delight  her  to  see  me  offering  this  wine 
to  my  honored  guest." 

But  Ulysses,  while  the  butler  was  gone  for  the  wine,  held  the 
snow-white  flower  to  his  nose. 

"  Is  it  a  wholesome  wine  ?  "  he  asked. 

At  this  the  four  maidens  tittered;  whereupon  the  enchantress 
looked  round  at  them,  with  an  aspect  of  severity. 

"It  is  the  wholesomest  juice  that  ever  was  squeezed  out  of  the 
grape,"  said  she  ;  "  for,  instead  of  disguising  a  man,  as  other  liquor 
is  apt  to  do,  it  brings  him  to  his  true  self,  and  shows  him  as  he 
ought  to  be." 


118  CIRCE'S   PALACE. 

The  chief  butler  liked  nothing  better  than  to  see  people  turned 
into  swine,  or  making  any  kind  of  a  beast  of  themselves ;  so  he 
made  haste  to  bring  the  royal  goblet,  filled  with  a  liquid  as  bright 
as  gold,  and  which  kept  sparkling  upward,  and  throwing  a  sunny 
spray  over  the  brim.  But,  delightfully  as  the  wine  looked,  it  was 
mingled  with  the  most  potent  enchantments  that  Circe  knew  how  to 
concoct.  For  every  drop  of  the  pure  grape-juice  there  were  two 
drops  of  the  pure  mischief ;  and  the  danger  of  the  thing  was,  that 
the  mischief  made  it  taste  all  the  better.  The  mere  smell  of  the 
bubbles,  which  effervesced  at  the  brim,  was  enough  to  turn  a  man's 
beard  into  pig's  bristles,  or  make  a  lion's  claws  grow  out  of  his 
fingers,  or  a  fox's  brush  behind  him. 

"  Drink,  my  noble  guest,"  said  Circe,  smiling  as  she  presented 
him  with  the  goblet.  "  You  will  find  in  this  draught  a  solace  for 
all  your  troubles." 

King  Ulysses  took  the  goblet  with  his  right  hand,  while  with  his 
left  he  held  the  snow-white  flower  to  his  nostrils,  and  drew  in  so 
long  a  breath  that  his  lungs  were  quite  filled  with  its  pure  and  sim 
ple  fragrance.  Then,  drinking  off  all  the  wine,  he  looked  the  en 
chantress  calmly  in  the  face. 

"  Wretch,"  cried  Circe,  giving  him  a  smart  stroke  with  her  wand, 
"  how  dare  you  keep  your  human  shape  a  moment  longer  ?  Take 
the  form  of  the  brute  whom  you  most  resemble.  If  a  hog,  go  join 
your  fellow-swine  in  the  sty  ;  if  a  lion,  a  wolf,  a  tiger,  go  howl  with 
the  wild  beasts  on  the  lawn  ;  if  a  fox,  go  exercise  your  craft  in  steal 
ing  poultry.  Thou  hast  quaffed  off  my  wine,  and  canst  be  man  no 
longer." 

But,  such  was  the  virtue  of  the  snow-white  flower,  instead  of 
wallowing  down  from  his  throne  in  swinish  shape,  or  taking  any 
other  brutal  form,  Ulysses  looked  even  more  manly  and  king-like 
than  before.  He  gave  the  magic  goblet  a  toss,  and  sent  it  clashing 
over  the  marble  floor,  to  the  farthest  end  of  the  saloon.  Then, 
drawing  his  sword,  he  seized  the  enchantress  by  her  beautiful  ring 
lets,  and  made  a  gesture  as  if  he  meant  to  strike  off  her  head  at 
one  blow. 

"  Wicked  Circe,"  cried  he,  in  a  terrible  voice,  "  this  sword  shall 
put  an  end  to  thy  enchantments.  Thou  shalt  die,  vile  wretch,  and 
do  no  more  mischief  in  the  world,  by  tempting  human  beings  into 
the  vices  which  make  beasts  of  them." 


CIRCE'S  PALACE.  119 

The  tone  and  countenance  of  Ulysses  were  so  awful,  and  his 
sword  gleamed  so  brightly,  and  seemed  to  have  so  intolerably  keen 
an  edge,  that  Circe  was  almost  killed  by  the  mere  fright,  without 
waiting  for  a  blow.  The  chief  butler  scrambled  out  of  the  saloon, 
picking  up  the  golden  goblet  as  he  went ;  and  the  enchantress  and 
the  four  maidens  fell  on  their  knees,  wringing  their  hands,  and 
screaming  for  mercy. 

"Spare  me  !  "  cried  Circe,  —  "  spare  me,  royal  and  wise  Ulysses. 
For  now  I  know  that  thou  art  he  of  whom  Quicksilver  forewarned 
me,  the  most  prudent  of  mortals,  against  whom  no  enchantments 
can  prevail.  Thou  only  couldst  have  conquered  Circe.  Spare  me, 
wisest  of  men.  I  will  show  thee  true  hospitality,  and  even  give 
myself  to  be  thy  slave,  and  this  magnificent  palace  to  be  henceforth 
thy  home." 

The  four  nymphs,  meanwhile,  were  making  a  most  piteous  ado  ; 
and  especially  the  ocean-nymph,  with  the  sea-green  hair,  wept  a 
great  deal  of  salt  water,  and  the  fountain-nymph,  besides  scatter 
ing  dew-drops  from  her  fingers'  ends,  nearly  melted  away  into  tearSo 
But  Ulysses  would  not  be  pacified  until  Circe  had  taken  a  solemn 
oath  to  change  back  his  companions,  and  as  many  others  as  he 
should  direct,  from  their  present  forms  of  beast  or  bird  into  their 
former  shapes  of  men. 

"  On  these  conditions,"  said  he,  "  I  consent  to  spare  your  life. 
Otherwise  you  must  die  upon  the  spot." 

With  a  drawn  sword  hanging  over  her,  the  enchantress  would 
readily  have  consented  to  do  as  much  good  as  she  had  hitherto 
done  mischief,  however  little  she  might  like  such  employment.  She 
therefore  led  Ulysses  out  of  the  back  entrance  of  the  palace,  and 
showed  him  the  swine  in  their  sty.  There  were  about  fifty  of  these 
unclean  beasts  in  the  whole  herd;  and  though  the  greater  part 
were  hogs  by  birth  and  education,  there  was  wonderfully  little  dif 
ference  to  be  seen  betwixt  them  and  their  new  brethren  who  had 
so  recently  worn  the  human  shape.  To  speak  critically,  indeed,  the 
latter  rather  carried  the  thing  to  excess,  and  seemed  to  make  it  a 
point  to  wallow  in  the  miriest  part  of  the  sty,  and  otherwise  to 
outdo  the  original  swine  in  their  own  natural  vocation.  When  men 
once  turn  to  brutes,  the  trifle  of  man's  wit  that  remains  in  them 
adds  tenfold  to  their  brutality. 


120  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

The  comrades  of  Ulysses,  however,  had  not  quite  lost  the  remem 
brance  of  having  formerly  stood  erect.  When  he  approached  the 
sty,  two-and-twenty  enormous  swine  separated  themselves  from  the 
herd,  and  scampered  towards  him,  with  such  a  chorus  of  horrible 
squealing  as  made  him  clap  both  hands  to  his  ears.  And  yet  they 
did  not  seem  to  know  what  they  wanted,  nor  whether  they  were 
merely  hungry,  or  miserable  from  some  other  cause.  It  was  curi 
ous,  in  the  midst  of  their  distress,  to  observe  them  thrusting  their 
noses  into  the  mire,  in  quest  of  something  to  eat.  The  nymph  with 
the  bodice  of  oaken  bark  (she  was  the  hamadryad  of  an  oak)  threw 
a  handful  of  acorns  among  them  ;  and  the  two-and-twenty  hogs 
scrambled  and  fought  for  the  prize,  as  if  they  had  tasted  not  so 
much  as  a  noggin  of  sour  milk  for  a  twelvemonth. 

"  These  must  certainly  be  my  comrades,"  said  Ulysses.  "  I  rec 
ognize  their  dispositions.  They  are  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of 
changing  them  into  the  human  form  again.  Nevertheless,  we  will 
have  it  done,  lest  their  bad  example  should  corrupt  the  other  hogs. 
Let  them  take  their  original  shapes,  therefore,  Dame  Circe,  if  your 
skill  is  equal  to  the  task.  It  will  require  greater  magic,  I  trow, 
than  it  did  to  make  swine  of  them." 

So  Circe  waved  her  wand  again,  and  repeated  a  few  magic  words, 
at  the  sound  of  which  the  two-and-twenty  hogs  pricked  up  their 
pendulous  ears.  It  was  a  wonder  to  behold  how  their  snouts  grew 
shorter  and  shorter,  and  their  mouths  (which  they  seemed  to  be 
sorry  for,  because  they  could  not  gobble  so  expeditiously)  smaller 
and  smaller,  and  how  one  and  another  began  to  stand  upon  his  hind 
legs,  and  scratch  his  nose  with  his  fore  trotters.  At  first  the  spec 
tators  hardly  knew  whether  to  call  them  hogs  or  men,  but  by  and 
by  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  rather  resembled  the  latter. 
Finally,  there  stood  the  twenty-two  comrades  of  Ulysses,  looking 
pretty  much  the  same  as  when  they  left  the  vessel. 

You  must  not  imagine,  however,  that  the  swinish  quality  had  en 
tirely  gone  out  of  them.  When  once  it  fastens  itself  into  a  person's 
character,  it  is  very  difficult  getting  rid  of  it.  This  was  proved  by 
the  hamadryad,  who,  being  exceedingly  fond  of  mischief,  threw  an 
other  handful  of  acorns  before  the  twenty-two  newly  restored  peo 
ple  ;  whereupon  down  they  wallowed,  in  a  moment,  and  gobbled 
them  up  in  a  very  shameful  way.  Then,  recollecting  themselves, 
they  scrambled  to  their  feet,  and  looked  more  than  commonly  foolish. 


CIRCE'S   PALACE. 


121 


"Thanks,  noble 
Ulysses  !  "  they  cried. 
"From  brute  beasts 
you  have  restored  us 
to  the  condition  of 
men  again." 

"  Do  not  put  your 
selves  to  the  trouble 
of  thanking  me,"  said 
the  wise  king.  "  I 
fear  I  have  done  but 
little  for  you." 

To  say  the  truth, 
there  was  a  suspicious 
kind  of  a  grunt  in 
their  voices,  and  for 
a  long  time  after 
wards  they  spoke 
gruffly,  and  were  apt 
to  set  up  a  squeal. 

"  It  must  depend 
on  your  own  future 
behavior,"  added 
Ulysses,  "  whether 
you  do  not  find  your 
way  back  to  the  sty." 
At  this  moment, 
the  note  of  a  bird 
sounded  from  the 
branch  of  a  neigh 
boring  tree. 

"  Peep,  peep,  pe  — 
wee  —  ep  !  " 

It  was  the  purple 
bird,  who,  all  this 
while,  had  been  sit 
ting  over  their  heads, 
watching  what  was 
going  forward,  and 
hoping  that  Ulysses 
would  remember  how 


122  CIRCE'S  PALACE. 

he  had  done  his  utmost  to  keep  him  and  his  followers  out  of  harm's 
way.  Ulysses  ordered  Circe  instantly  to  make  a  king  of  this  good 
little  fowl,  and  leave  him  exactly  as  she  found  him.  Hardly  were 
the  words  spoken,  and  before  the  bird  had  time  to  utter  another 
"  Pe  —  weep,"  King  Picus  leaped  down  from  the  bough  of  the  tree, 
as  majestic  a  sovereign  as  any  in  the  world,  dressed  in  a  long  pur 
ple  robe  and  gorgeous  yellow  stockings,  with  a  splendidly  wrought 
collar  about  his  neck,  and  a  golden  crown  upon  his  head.  He  and 
King  Ulysses  exchanged  with  one  another  the  ^courtesies  which  be 
long  to  their  elevated  rank.  But  from  that  time  forth,  King  Picus 
was  no  longer  proud  of  his  crown  and  his  trappings  of  royalty,  nor 
of  the  fact  of  his  being  a  king ;  he  felt  himself  merely  the  upper 
servant  of  his  people,  and  that  it  must  be  his  lifelong  labor  to  make 
them  better  and  happier. 

As  for  the  lions,  tigers,  and  wolves  (though  Circe  would  have 
restored  them  to  their  former  shapes  at  his  slightest  word),  Ulysses 
thought  it  advisable  that  they  should  remain  as  they  now  were,  and 
thus  give  warning  of  their  cruel  dispositions,  instead  of  going  about 
under  the  guise  of  men,  and  pretending  to  human  sympathies,  while 
their  hearts  had  the  blood-thirstiness  of  wild  beasts.  So  he  let  them 
howl  as  much  as  they  liked,  but  never  troubled  his  head  about  them. 
And,  when  everything  was  settled  according  to  his  pleasure,  he  sent 
to  summon  the  remainder  of  his  comrades,  whom  he  had  left  at 
the  sea-shore.  These  being  arrived,  with  the  prudent  Eurylochus 
at  their  head,  they  all  made  themselves  comfortable  in  Circe's  en 
chanted  palace,  until  quite  rested  and  refreshed  from  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  their  voyage. 


THE  PoHECiRANATE  SEEDS 


MOTHER  CERES  was  exceedingly  fond  of  her  daughter  Proserpina, 
and  seldom  let  her  go  alone  into  the  fields.  But,  just  at  the  time 
when  my  story  begins,  the  good  lady  was  very  busy,  because  she 
had  the  care  of  the  wheat,  and  the  Indian  corn,  and  the  rye  and 
barley,  and,  in  short,  of  the  crops  of  every  kind,  all  over  the  earth ; 
and  as  the  season  had  thus  far  been  uncommonly  backward,  it  was 
necessary  to  make  the  harvest  ripen  more  speedily  than  usual.  So 
she  put  on  her  turban,  made  of  poppies  (a  kind  of  flower  which  she 
was  always  noted  for  wearing),  and  got  into  her  car  drawn  by  a 
pair  of  winged  dragons,  and  was  just  ready  to  set  off. 

"  Dear  mother,"  said  Proserpina,  "  I  shall  be  very  lonely  while 
you  are  away.  May  I  not  run  down  to  the  shore,  and  ask  some  of 
the  sea-nymphs  to  come  up  out  of  the  waves  and  play  with  me  ?  " 

u  Yes,  child,"  answered  Mother  Ceres.  "  The  sea-nymphs  are 
good  creatures,  and  will  never  lead  you  into  any  harm.  But  you 
must  take  care  not  to  stray  away  from  them,  nor  go  wandering 
about  the  fields  by  yourself.  Young  girls,  without  their  mothers  to 
take  care  of  them,  are  very  apt  to  get  into  mischief." 

The  child  promised  to  be  as  prudent  as  if  she  were  a  grown-up 
woman,  and,  by  the  time  the  winged  dragons  had  whirled  the  car 
out  of  sight,  she  was  already  on  the  shore,  calling  to  the  sea-nymphs 
to  come  and  play  with  her.  They  knew  Proserpina's  voice,  and 
were  not  long  in  showing  their  glistening  faces  and  sea-green  hair 
above  the  water,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  their  home.  They 


124  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

brought  along  with  them  a  great  many  beautiful  shells ;  and,  sitting 
down  on  the  moist  sand,  where  the  surf  wave  broke  over  them,  they 
busied  themselves  in  making  a  necklace,  which  they  hung  round 
Proserpina's  neck.  By  way  of  showing  her  gratitude,  the  child  be 
sought  them  to  go  with  her  a  little  way  into  the  fields,  so  that  they 
might  gather  abundance  of  flowers,  with  which  she  would  make  each 
of  her  kind  playmates  a  wreath. 

"  Oh  no,  dear  Proserpina,"  cried  the  sea-nymphs  ;  "  we  dare  not 
go  with  you  upon  the  dry  land.  We  are  apt  to  grow  faint,  unless 
at  every  breath  we  can  snuff  up  the  salt  breeze  of  the  ocean.  And 
don't  you  see  how  careful  we  are  to  let  the  surf  wave  break  over  us 
every  moment  or  two,  so  as  to  keep  ourselves  comfortably  moist  ? 
If  it  were  not  for  that,  we  should  soon  look  like  bunches  of  uprooted 
sea-weed  dried  in  the  sun." 

"  It  is  a  great  pity,"  said  Proserpina.  "  But  do  you  wait  for  me 
here,  and  I  will  run  and  gather  my  apron  full  of  flowers,  and  be 
back  again  before  the  surf  wave  has  broken  ten  times  over  you.  I 
long  to  make  you  some  wreaths  that  shall  be  as  lovely  as  this  neck 
lace  of  many-colored  shells." 

"  We  will  wait,  then,"  answered  the  sea-nymphs.  "  But  while 
you  are  gone,  we  may  as  well  lie  down  on  a  bank  of  soft  sponge, 
under  the  water.  The  air  to-day  is  a  little  too  dry  for  our  comfort. 
But  we  will  pop  up  our  heads  every  few  minutes  to  see  if  you  are 
coming." 

The  young  Proserpina  ran  quickly  to  a  spot  where,  only  the  day 
before,  she  had  seen  a  great  many  flowers.  These,  however,  were 
now  a  little  past  their  bloom  ;  and  wishing  to  give  her  friends  the 
freshest  and  loveliest  blossoms,  she  strayed  farther  into  the  fields, 
and  found  some  that  made  her  scream  with  delight.  Never  had 
she  met  with  such  exquisite  flowers  before,  —  violets,  so  large  and 
fragrant,  —  roses,  with  so  rich  and  delicate  a  blush,  —  such  superb 
hyacinths  and  such  aromatic  pinks,  —  and  many  others,  some  of 
which  seemed  to  be  of  new  shapes  and  colors.  Two  or  three  times, 
moreover,  she  could  not  help  thinking  that  a  tuft  of  most  splendid 
flowers  had  suddenly  sprouted  out  of  the  earth  before  her  very  eyes, 
as  if  on  purpose  to  tempt  her  a  few  steps  farther.  Proserpina's 
apron  was  soon  filled  and  brimming  over  with  delightful  blossoms. 
She  was  on  the  point  of  turning  back  in  order  to  rejoin  the  sea- 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  125 

nymphs,  and  sit  with  them  on  the  moist  sands,  all  twining  wreaths 
together.  But,  a  little  farther  on,  what  should  she  behold  ?  It  was 
a  large  shrub,  completely  covered  with  the  most  magnificent  flowers 
in  the  world. 

"  The  darlings  ! "  cried  Proserpina ;  and  then  she  thought  to 
herself,  "  I  was  looking  at  that  spot  only  a  moment  ago.  How 
strange  it  is  that  I  did  not  see  the  flowers !  " 

The  nearer  she  approached  the  shrub,  the  more  attractive  it  looked, 
until  she  came  quite  close  to  it ;  and  then,  although  its  beauty  was 
richer  than  words  can  tell,  she  hardly  knew  whether  to  like  it  or  not. 
It  bore  above  a  hundred  flowers  of  the  most  brilliant  hues,  and 
each  different  from  the  others,  but  all  having  a  kind  of  resemblance 
among  themselves,  which  showed  them  to  be  sister  blossoms.  But 
there  was  a  deep,  glossy  lustre  on  the  leaves  of  the  shrub,  and  on 
the  petals  of  the  flowers,  that  made  Proserpina  doubt  whether  they 
might  not  be  poisonous.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  foolish  at  it  may 
seem,  she  was  half  inclined  to  turn  round  and  run  away. 

"  What  a  silly  child  I  am  !  "  thought  she,  taking  courage.  "  It 
is  really  the  most  beautiful  shrub  that  ever  sprang  out  of  the  earth. 
I  will  pull  it  up  by  the  roots,  and  carry  it  home,  and  plant  it  in  my 
mother's  garden." 

Holding  up  her  apron  full  of  flowers  with  her  left  hand,  Proser 
pina  seized  the  large  shrub  with  the  other,  and  pulled  and  pulled, 
but  was  hardly  able  to  loosen  the  soil  about  its  roots.  What  a  deep- 
rooted  plant  it  was !  Again  the  girl  pulled  with  all  her  might,  and 
observed  that  the  earth  began  to  stir  and  crack  to  some  distance 
around  the  stem.  She  gave  another  pull,  but  relaxed  her  hold,  fan 
cying  that  there  was  a  rumbling  sound  right  beneath  her  feet.  Did 
the  roots  extend  down  into  some  enchanted  cavern  ?  Then,  laugh 
ing  at  herself  for  so  childish  a  notion,  she  made  another  effort;  up 
came  the  shrub,  and  Proserpina  staggered  back,  holding  the  stem 
triumphantly  in  her  hand,  and  gazing  at  the  deep  hole  which  its 
roots  had  left  in  the  soil. 

Much  to  her  astonishment,  this  hole  kept  spreading  wider  and 
wider,  and  growing  deeper  and  deeper,  until  it  really  seemed  to  have 
no  bottom  ;  and  all  the  while,  there  came  a  rumbling  noise  out  of 
its  depths,  louder  and  louder,  and  nearer  and  nearer,  and  sounding 
like  the  tramp  of  horses'  hoofs  and  the  rattling  of  wheels.  Too  much 


126  THE  POMEGRANATE   SEEDS. 

frightened  to  run  away,  she  stood  straining  her  eyes  into  this  won 
derful  cavity,  and  soon  saw  a  team  of  four  sable  horses,  snorting 
smoke  out  of  their  nostrils,  and  tearing  their  way  out  of  the  earth 
with  a  splendid  golden  chariot  whirling  at  their  heels.  They  leaped 
out  of  the  bottomless  hole,  chariot  and  all ;  and  there  they  were, 
tossing  their  black  manes,  flourishing  their  black  tails,  and  curvet 
ting  with  every  one  of  their  hoofs  oft'  the  ground  at  once,  close  by 
the  spot  where  Proserpina  stood.  In  the  chariot  sat  the  figure  of 
a  man,  richly  dressed,  with  a  crown  on  his  head,  all  flaming  with 
diamonds.  He  was  of  a  noble  aspect,  and  rather  handsome,  but 
looked  sullen  and  discontented ;  and  he  kept  rubbing  his  eyes  and 
shading:  them  with  his  hand,  as  if  he  did  not  live  enough  in  the 

O  7  O 

sunshine  to  be  very  fond  of  its  light. 

As  soon  as  this  personage  saw  the  affrighted  Proserpina,  he 
beckoned  her  to  come  a  little  nearer. 

"  Do  not  be  afraid,"  said  he,  with  as  cheerful  a  smile  as  he  knew 
how  to  put  on.  "  Come !  Will  not  you  like  to  ride  a  little  way 
with  me,  in  my  beautiful  chariot  ?  " 

But  Proserpina  was  so  alarmed,  that  she  wished  for  nothing  but 
to  get  out  of  his  reach.  And  no  wonder.  The  stranger  did  not 
look  remarkably  good-natured,  in  spite  of  his  smile  ;  and  as  for  his 
voice,  its  tones  were  deep  and  stern,  and  sounded  as  much  like  the 
rumbling  of  an  earthquake  under  ground  as  anything  else.  As  is 
always  the  case  with  children  in  trouble,  Proserpina's  first  thought 
was  to  call  for  her  mother. 

"  Mother,  Mother  Ceres  !  "  cried  she  all  in  a  tremble.  "  Come 
quickly  and  save  me." 

But  her  voice  was  too  faint  for  her  mother  to  hear.  Indeed,  it 
is  most  probable  that  Ceres  was  then  a  thousand  miles  off,  making 
the  corn  grow  in  some  far-distant  country.  Nor  could  it  have  availed 
her  poor  daughter,  even  had  she  been  within  hearing ;  for  no  sooner 
did  Proserpina  begin  to  cry  out,  than  the  stranger  leaped  to  the 
ground,  caught  the  child  in  his  arms,  and  again  mounting  the  char 
iot,  shook  the  reins,  and  shouted  to  the  four  black  horses  to  set  oft'. 
They  immediately  broke  into  so  swift  a  gallop  that  it  seemed  rather 
like  flying  through  the  air  than  running  along  the  earth.  In  a 
moment,  Proserpina  lost  sight  of  the  pleasant  vale  of  Enna,  in  which 
she  had  always  dwelt.  Another  instant,  and  even  the  summit  of 


KING  PLUTO  AND   PROSERPINA.     Page  126. 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  129 

Mount  ^Etna  had  become  so  blue  in  the  distance,  that  she  could 
scarcely  distinguish  it  from  the  smoke  that  gushed  out  of  its  crater. 
But  still  the  poor  child  screamed,  and  scattered  her  apron  full  of 
flowers  along  the  way,  and  left  a  long  cry  trailing  behind  the 
chariot ;  and  many  mothers,  to  whose  ears  it  came,  ran  quickly  to 
see  if  any  mischief  had  befallen  their  children.  But  Mother  Ceres 
was  a  great  way  off,  and  could  not  hear  the  cry. 

As  they  rode  on,  the  stranger  did  his  best  to  soothe  her. 

"  Why  should  you  be  so  frightened,  my  pretty  child  ?  "  said  he, 
trying  to  soften  his  rough  voice.  "  I  promise  not  to  do  you  any 
harm.  What !  You  have  been  gathering  flowers  ?  Wait  tih1  we 
come  to  iny  palace,  and  I  will  give  you  a  garden  full  of  prettier 
flowers  than  those,  all  made  of  pearls,  and  diamonds,  and  rubies. 
Can  you  guess  who  I  am  ?  They  call  my  name  Pluto,  and  I  am 
the  king  of  diamonds  and  all  other  precious  stones.  Every  atom  of 
the  gold  and  silver  that  lies  under  the  earth  belongs  to  me,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  copper  and  iron,  and  of  the  coal-mines,  which  supply 
me  with  abundance  of  fuel.  Do  you  see  this  splendid  crown  upon 
my  head  ?  You  may  have  it  for  a  plaything.  Oh,  we  shall  be  very 
good  friends,  and  you  will  find  me  more  agreeable  than  you  expect, 
when  once  we  get  out  of  this  troublesome  sunshine." 

"  Let  me  go  home  !  "  cried  Proserpina,  —  "  let  me  go  home  !  " 

"  My  home  is  better  than  your  mother's,"  answered  King  Pluto. 
"  It  is  a  palace,  all  made  of  gold,  with  crystal  windows ;  and  because 
there  is  little  or  no  sunshine  thereabouts,  the  apartments  are  illu 
minated  with  diamond  lamps.  You  never  saw  anything  half  so 
magnificent  as  my  throne.  If  you  like,  you  may  sit  down  on  it, 
and  be  my  little  queen,  and  I  will  sit  on  the  footstool." 

"  I  don't  care  for  golden  palaces  and  thrones,"  sobbed  Proserpina. 
u  Oh,  my  mother,  my  mother  !  Carry  me  back  to  my  mother  ! " 

But  King  Pluto,  as  he  called  himself,  only  shouted  to  his  steeds 
to  go  faster. 

"Pray  do  not  be  foolish,  Proserpina,"  said  he,  in  rather  a  sullen 
tone.  "  I  offer  you  my  palace  and  my  crown,  and  all  the  riches 
that  are  under  the  earth ;  and  you  treat  me  as  if  I  were  doing  you 
an  injury.  The  one  thing  which  my  palace  needs  is  a  merry  little 
maid,  to  run  up  stairs  and  down,  and  cheer  up  the  rooms  with  her 
smile.  And  this  is  what  you  must  do  for  King  Pluto." 


130  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

"  Never  !  "  answered  Proserpina,  looking  as  miserable  as  she  could. 
"  I  shall  never  smile  again  till  you  set  me  down  at  my  mother's 
door." 

But  she  might  just  as  well  have  talked  to  the  wind  that  whistled 
past  them ;  for  Pluto  urged  on  his  horses,  and  went  faster  than  ever. 
Proserpina  continued  to  cry  out,  -and  screamed  so  long  and  so  loudly, 
that  her  poor  little  voice  was  almost  screamed  away ;  and  when  it 
was  nothing  but  a  whisper,  she  happened  to  cast  her  eyes  over  a 
great,  broad  field  of  waving  grain  —  and  whom  do  you  think  she 
saw  ?  Who,  but  Mother  Ceres,  making  the  corn  grow,  and  too 
busy  to  notice  the  golden  chariot  as  it  went  rattling  along.  The 
child  mustered  all  her  strength,  and  gave  one  more  scream,  but  was 
out  of  sight  before  Ceres  had  time  to  turn  her  head. 

King  Pluto  had  taken  a  road  which  now  began  to  grow  exces 
sively  gloomy.  It  was  bordered  on  each  side  with  rocks  and  preci 
pices,  between  which  the  rumbling  of  the  chariot-wheels  was  rever 
berated  with  a  noise  like  rolling  thunder.  The  trees  and  bushes 
that  grew  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks  had  very  dismal  foliage ;  and 
by  and  by,  although  it  was  hardly  noon,  the  air  became  obscured 
with  a  gray  twilight.  The  black  horses  had  rushed  along  so  swiftly, 
that  they  were  already  beyond  the  limits  of  the  sunshine.  But  the 
duskier  it  grew,  the  more  did  Pluto's  visage  assume  an  air  of  satis 
faction.  After  all,  he  was  not  an  ill-looking  person,  especially  when 
he  left  off  twisting  his  features  into  a  smile  that  did  not  belong  to 
them.  Proserpina  peeped  at  his  face  through  the  gathering  dusk, 
and  hoped  that  he  might  not  be  so  very  wicked  as  she  at  first 
thought  him. 

"  Ah,  this  twilight  is  truly  refreshing,"  said  King  Pluto,  "  after 
being  so  tormented  with  that  ugly  and  impertinent  glare  of  the 
sun.  How  much  more  agreeable  is  lamplight  or  torchlight,  more 
particularly  when  reflected  from  diamonds  !  It  will  be  a  magnifi 
cent  sight  when  we  get  to  my  palace." 

"  Is  it  much  farther  ?  "  asked  Proserpina.  "  And  will  you  carry 
me  back  when  I  have  seen  it  ?  " 

"  We  will  talk  of  that  by  and  by,"  answered  Pluto.  "  We  are 
just  entering  my  dominions.  Do  you  see  that  tall  gateway  before 
us?  When  we  pass  those  gates,  we  are  at  home.  And  there  lies 
my  faithful  mastiff  at  the  threshold.  Cerberus  !  Cerberus  !  Come 
hither,  my  good  dog  !  " 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  131 

So  saying,  Pluto  pulled  at  the  reins,  and  stopped  the  chariot 
right  between  the  tall,  massive  pillars  of  the  gateway.  The  mastiff 
of  which  he  had  spoken  got  up  from  the  threshold,  and  stood  on 
his  hinder  legs,  so  as  to  put  his  fore  paws  on  the  chariot-wheel. 
But,  my  stars,  what  a  strange  dog  it  was !  Why,  he  was  a  big, 
rough,  ugly-looking  monster,  with  three  separate  heads,  and  each 
of  them  fiercer  than  the  two  others ;  but,  fierce  as  they  were,  King 
Pluto  patted  them  all.  He  seemed  as  fond  of  his  three-headed  dog 
as  if  it  had  been  a  sweet  little  spaniel,  with  silken  ears  and  curly 
hair.  Cerberus,  on  the  other  hand,  was  evidently  rejoiced  to  see 
his  master,  and  expressed  his  attachment,  as  other  dogs  do,  by 
wagging  his  tail  at  a  great  rate.  Proserpina's  eyes  being  drawn 
to  it  by  its  brisk  motion,  she  saw  that  this  tail  was  neither  more 
nor  less  than  a  live  dragon,  with  fiery  eyes,  and  fangs  that  had  a 
very  poisonous  aspect.  And  while  the  three-headed  Cerberus  was 
fawning  so  lovingly  on  King  Pluto,  there  was  the  dragon  tail  wag 
ging  against  its  will,  and  looking  as  cross  and  ill-natured  as  you  can 
imagine,  on  its  own  separate  account. 

"  Will  the  dog  bite  me  ?  "  asked  Proserpina,  shrinking  closer  to 
Pluto.  "  What  an  ugly  creature  he  is  !  " 

"  Oh,  never  fear,"  answered  her  companion.  "  He  never  harms 
people,  unless  they  try  to  enter  my  dominions  without  being  sent 
for,  or  to  get  away  when  I  wish  to  keep  them  here.  Down  Cer 
berus  !  Now,  my  pretty  Proserpina,  we  will  drive  on." 

On  went  the  chariot,  and  King  Pluto  seemed  greatly  pleased  to 
find  himself  once  more  in  his  own  kingdom.  He  drew  Proserpina's 
attention  to  the  rich  veins  of  gold  that  were  to  be  seen  among  the 
rocks,  and  pointed  to  several  places  where  one  stroke  of  a  pick-axe 
would  loosen  a  bushel  of  diamonds.  All  along  the  road,  indeed, 
there  were  sparkling  gems,  which  would  have  been  of  inestimable 
value  above  ground,  but  which  were  here  reckoned  of  the  meaner 
sort,  and  hardly  worth  a  beggar's  stooping  for. 

Not  far  from  the  gateway,  they  came  to  a  bridge,  which  seemed 
to  be  built  of  iron.  Pluto  stopped  the  chariot,  and  bade  Proser 
pina  look  at  the  stream  which  was  gliding  so  lazily  beneath  it. 
Never  in  her  life  had  she  beheld  so  torpid,  so  black,  so  muddy-look 
ing  a  stream  :  its  waters  reflected  no  images  of  anything  that  was 
on  the  banks,  and  it  moved  as  sluggishly  as  if  it  had  quite  forgot- 


132  TEE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

ten  which  way  it  ought  to  flow,  and  had  rather  stagnate  than  flow 
either  one  way  or  the  other. 

"  This  is  the  river  Lethe,"  observed  King  Pluto.  "  Is  it  not  a 
very  pleasant  stream  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  a  very  dismal  one,"  said  Proserpina. 

"  It  suits  my  taste,  however,"  answered  Pluto,  who  was  apt  to  be 
sullen  when  anybody  disagreed  with  him.  "  At  all  events,  its  water 
has  one  very  excellent  quality  ;  for  a  single  draught  of  it  makes 
people  forget  every  care  and  sorrow  that  has  hitherto  tormented 
them.  Only  sip  a  little  of  it,  my  dear  Proserpina,  and  you  will  in 
stantly  cease  to  grieve  for  your  mother,  and  will  have  nothing  in 
your  memory  that  can  prevent  your  being  perfectly  happy  in  my 
palace.  I  will  send  for  some,  in  a  golden  goblet,  the  moment  we 
arrive." 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  no  !  "  cried  Proserpina,  weeping  afresh.  "  I  had  a 
thousand  times  rather  be  miserable  with  remembering  my  mother, 
than  be  happy  in  forgetting  her.  That  dear,  dear  mother  !  I  never, 
never  will  forget  her." 

"  We  shall  see,"  said  King  Pluto.  "  You  do  not  know  what  fine 
times  we  will  have  in  my  palace.  Here  we  are  just  at  the  portal. 
These  pillars  are  solid  gold,  I  assure  you." 

He  alighted  from  the  chariot,  and  taking  Proserpina  in  his  arms, 
carried  her  up  a  lofty  flight  of  steps  into  the  great  hall  of  the  pal 
ace.  It  was  splendidly  illuminated  by  means  of  large  precious 
stones,  of  various  hues,  which  seemed  to  burn  like  so  many  lamps, 
and  glowed  with  a  hundred-fold  radiance  all  through  the  vast  apart 
ment.  And  yet  there  was  a  kind  of  gloom  in  the  midst  of  this 
enchanted  light ;  nor  was  there  a  single  object  in  the  hall  that  was 
really  agreeable  to  behold,  except  the  little  Proserpina  herself,  a 
lovely  child,  with  one  earthly  flower  which  she  had  not  let  fall  from 
her  hand.  It  is  my  opinion  that  even  King  Pluto  had  never  been 
happy  in  his  palace,  and  that  this  was  the  true  reason  why  he  had 
stolen  away  Proserpina,  in  order  that  he  might  have  something  to 
love,  instead  of  cheating  his  heart  any  longer  with  this  tiresome 
magnificence.  And,  though  he  pretended  to  dislike  the  sunshine 
of  the  upper  world,  yet  the  effect  of  the  child's  presence,  bedimmed 
as  she  was  by  her  tears,  was  as  if  a  faint  and  watery  sunbeam  had 
somehow  or  other  found  its  way  into  the  enchanted  hall. 


THE   POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  133 

Pluto  now  summoned  his  domestics,  and  bade  them  lose  no  time 
in  preparing  a  most  sumptuous  banquet,  and  above  all  things,  not 
to  fail  of  setting  a  golden  beaker  of  the  water  of  Lethe  by  Proser 
pina's  plate. 

"  I  will  neither  drink  that  nor  anything  else,"  said  Proserpina. 
"  Nor  will  I  taste  a  morsel  of  food,  even  if  you  keep  me  forever  in 
your  palace." 

"  I  should  be  sorry  for  that,"  replied  King  Pluto,  patting  her 
cheek  ;  for  he  really  wished  to  be  kind,  if  he  had  only  known  how. 
"  You  are  a  spoiled  child,  I  perceive,  my  little  Proserpina ;  but 
when  you  see  the  nice  things  which  my  cook  will  make  for  you, 
your  appetite  will  quickly  come  again." 

Then,  sending  for  the  head  cook,  he  gave  strict  orders  that  all 
sorts  of  delicacies,  such  as  young  people  are  usually  fond  of,  should 
be  set  before  Proserpina.  He  had  a  secret  motive  in  this  ;  for,  you 
are  to  understand,  it  is  a  fixed  law,  that,  when  persons  are  carried 
off  to  the  land  of  magic,  if  they  once  taste  any  food  there,  they  can 
never  get  back  to  their  friends.  Now,  if  King  Pluto  had  been 
cunning  enough  to  offer  Proserpina  some  fruit,  or  bread  and  milk 
(which  was  the  simple  fare  to  which  the  child  had  always  been 
accustomed),  it  is  very  probable  that  she  would  soon  have  been 
tempted  to  eat  it.  But  he  left  the  matter  entirely  to  his  cook,  who, 
like  all  other  cooks,  considered  nothing  fit  to  eat  unless  it  were  rich 
pastry,  or  highly  seasoned  meat,  or  spiced  sweet  cakes,  —  things 
which  Proserpina's  mother  had  never  given  her,  and  the  smell  of 
which  quite  took  away  her  appetite,  instead  of  sharpening  it. 

But  my  story  must  now  clamber  out  of  King  Pluto's  dominions, 
and  see  what  Mother  Ceres  has  been  about,  since  she  was  bereft  of 
her  daughter.  We  had  a  glimpse  of  her,  as  you  remember,  half 
hidden  among  the  waving  grain,  while  the  four  black  steeds  were 
swiftly  whirling  along  the  chariot  in  which  her  beloved  Proserpina 
was  so  unwillingly  borne  away.  You  recollect,  too,  the  loud  scream 
which  Proserpina  gave,  just  when  the  chariot  was  out  of  sight. 

Of  all  the  child's  outcries,  this  last  shriek  was  the  only  one  that 
reached  the  ears  of  Mother  Ceres.  She  had  mistaken  the  rumbling 
of  the  chariot-wheels  for  a  peal  of  thunder,  and  imagined  that  a 
shower  was  coming  up,  and  that  it  would  assist  her  in  making  the 
corn  grow.  But  at  the  sound  of  Proserpina's  shriek,  she  started,  and 


134  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

looked  about  in  every  direction,  not  knowing  whence  it  came,  but 
feeling  almost  certain  that  it  was  her  daughter's  voice.  It  seemed 
so  unaccountable,  however,  that  the  girl  should  have  strayed  over 
so  many  lands  and  seas  (which  she  herself  could  not  have  traversed 
without  the  aid  of  her  winged  dragons),  that  the  good  Ceres  tried 
to  believe  that  it  must  be  the  child  of  some  other  parent,  and  not 
her  own  darling  Proserpina,  who  had  uttered  this  lamentable  cry. 
Nevertheless,  it  troubled  her  with  a  vast  many  tender  fears  such  as 
are  ready  to  bestir  themselves  in  every  mother's  heart,  when  she 
finds  it  necessary  to  go  away  from  her  dear  children  without  leav 
ing  them  under  the  care  of  some  maiden  aunt,  or  other  such  faith 
ful  guardian.  So  she  quickly  left  the  field  in  which  she  had  been 
so  busy ;  and,  as  her  work  was  not  half  done,  the  grain  looked, 
next  day,  as  if  it  needed  both  sun  and  rain,  and  as  if  it  were 
blighted  in  the  ear,  and  had  something  the  matter  with  its  roots. 

The  pair  of  dragons  must  have  had  very  nimble  wings  ;  for,  in 
less  than  an  hour,  Mother  Ceres  had  alighted  at  the  door  of  her 
home,  and  found  it  empty.  Knowing,  however,  that  the  child  was 
fond  of  sporting  on  the  sea-shore,  she  hastened  thither  as  fast  as 
she  could,  and  there  beheld  the  wet  faces  of  the  poor  sea-nymphs 
peeping  over  a  wave.  All  this  while,  the  good  creatures  had  been 
waiting  on  the  bank  of  sponge,  and,  once  every  half-minute  or  so, 
had  popped  up  their  four  heads  above  water,  to  see  if  their  play 
mate  were  yet  coming  back.  When  they  saw  Mother  Ceres,  they 
sat  down  on  the  crest  of  the  surf  wave,  and  let  it  toss  them  ashore 
at  her  feet. 

"  Where  is  Proserpina  ?  "  cried  Ceres.  "  Where  is  my  child  ? 
Tell  me,  you  naughty  sea-nymphs,  have  you  enticed  her  under  the 
sea?" 

"  Oh  no,  good  Mother  Ceres,"  said  the  innocent  sea-nymphs, 
tossing  back  their  green  ringlets,  and  looking  her  in  the  face. 
"  We  never  should  dream  of  such  a  thing.  Proserpina  has  been  at 
play  with  us,  it  is  true ;  but  she  left  us  a  long  while  ago,  meaning 
only  to  run  a  little  way  upon  the  dry  land,  and  gather  some  flow 
ers  for  a  wreath.  This  was  early  in  the  day,  and  we  have  seen 
nothing  of  her  since." 

Ceres  scarcely  waited  to  hear  what  the  nymphs  had  to  say,  before 
she  hurried  off  to  make  inquiries  all  through  the  neighborhood. 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  135 

But  nobody  told  her  anything  that  could  enable  the  poor  mother  to 
guess  what  had  become  of  Proserpina.  A  fisherman,  it  is  true,  had 
noticed  her  little  footprints  in  the  sand,  as  he  went  homeward  along 
the  beach  with  a  basket  of  fish  ;  a  rustic  had  seen  the  child  stoop 
ing  to  gather  flowers ;  several  persons  had  heard  either  the  rattling 
of  chariot-wheels,  or  the  rumbling  of  distant  thunder  ;  and  one  old 
woman,  while  plucking  vervain  and  catnip,  had  heard  a  scream,  but 
supposed  it  to  be  some  childish  nonsense,  and  therefore  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  look  up.  The  stupid  people  !  It  took  them 
such  a  tedious  while  to  tell  the  nothing  that  they  knew,  that  it  was 
dark  night  before  Mother  Ceres  found  out  that  she  must  seek  her 
daughter  elsewhere.  So  she  lighted  a  torch,  and  set  forth,  resolv 
ing  never  to  come  back  until  Proserpina  was  discovered. 

In  her  haste  and  trouble  of  mind,  she  quite  forgot  her  car  and 
the  winged  dragons  ;  or,  it  may  be,  she  thought  that  she  could  fol 
low  up  the  search  more  thoroughly  on  foot.  At  all  events,  this  was 
the  way  in  which  she  began  her  sorrowful  journey,  holding  her 
torch  before  her,  and  looking  carefully  at  every  object  along  the 
path.  And  as  it  happened,  she  had  not  gone  far  before  she  found 
one  of  the  magnificent  flowers  which  grew  on  the  shrub  that  Pro 
serpina  had  pulled  up. 

"  Ha !  "  thought  Mother  Ceres,  examining  it  by  torchlight. 
"  Here  is  mischief  in  this  flower  !  The  earth  did  not  produce  it  by 
any  help  of  mine,  nor  of  its  own  accord.  It  is  the  work  of  en 
chantment,  and  is  therefore  poisonous ;  and  perhaps  it  has  poisoned 
my  poor  child." 

But  she  put  the  poisonous  flower  in  her  bosom,  not  knowing 
whether  she  might  ever  find  any  other  memorial  of  Proserpina. 

All  night  long,  at  the  door  of  every  cottage  and  farm-house, 
Ceres  knocked,  and  called  up  the  weary  laborers  to  inquire  if  they 
had  seen  her  child  ;  and  they  stood,  gaping  and  half  asleep,  at  the 
threshold,  and  answered  her  pityingly,  and  besought  her  to  come  in 
and  rest.  At  the  portal  of  every  palace,  too,  she  made  so  loud  a 
summons  that  the  menials  hurried  to  throw  open  the  gate,  thinking 
that  it  must  be  some  great  king  or  queen,  who  would  demand  a 
banquet  for  supper  and  a  stately  chamber  to  repose  in.  And  when 
they  saw  only  a  sad  and  anxious  woman,  with  a  torch  in  her  hand 
and  a  wreath  of  withered  poppies  on  her  head,  they  spoke  rudely, 


136  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

and  sometimes  threatened  to  set  the  dogs  upon  her.  But  nobody 
had  seen  Proserpina,  nor  could  give  Mother  Ceres  the  least  hint 
which  way  to  seek  her.  Thus  passed  the  night ;  and  still  she  con 
tinued  her  search  without  sitting  down  to  rest,  or  stopping  to  take 
food,  or  even  remembering  to  put  out  the  torch ;  although  first  the 
rosy  dawn,  and  then  the  glad  light  of  the  morning  sun,  made  its 
red  flame  look  thin  and  pale.  But  I  wonder  what  sort  of  stuff  this 
torch  was  made  of ;  for  it  burned  dimly  through  the  day,  and,  at 
night,  was  as  bright  as  ever,  and  never  was  extinguished  by  the 
rain  or  wind,  in  all  the  weary  days  and  nights  while  Ceres  was 
seeking  for  Proserpina. 

It  was  not  merely  of  human  beings  that  she  asked  tidings  of  her 
daughter.  In  the  woods  and  by  the  streams,  she  met  creatures  of 
another  nature,  who  used,  in  those  old  times,  to  haunt  the  pleasant 
and  solitary  places,  and  were  very  sociable  with  persons  who  under 
stood  their  language  and  customs,  as  Mother  Ceres  did.  Some 
times,  for  instance,  she  tapped  with  her  finger  against  the  knotted 
trunk  of  a  majestic  oak ;  and  immediately  its  rude  bark  would 
cleave  asunder,  and  forth  would  step  a  beautiful  maiden,  who  was 
the  hamadryad  of  the  oak,  dwelling  inside  of  it,  and  sharing  its 
long  life,  and  rejoicing  when  its  green  leaves  sported  with  the 
breeze.  But  not  one  of  these  leafy  damsels  had  seen  Proserpina. 
Then,  going  a  little  farther,  Ceres  would,  perhaps,  come  to  a  foun 
tain,  gushing  out  of  a  pebbly  hollow  in  the  earth,  and  would  dab 
ble  with  her  hand  in  the  water.  Behold,  up  through  its  sandy  and 
pebbly  bed,  along  with  the  fountain's  gush,  a  young  woman  with 
dripping  hair  would  arise,  and  stand  gazing  at  Mother  Ceres,  half 
out  of  the  water,  and  undulating  up  and  down  with  its  ever-restless 
motion.  But  when  the  mother  asked  whether  her  poor  lost  child 
had  stopped  to  drink  out  of  the  fountain,  the  naiad,  with  weeping 
eyes  (for  these  water-nymphs  had  tears  to  spare  for  everybody's 
grief),  would  answer,  "  No! "  in  a  murmuring  voice,  which  was  just 
like  the  murmur  of  the  stream. 

Often,  likewise,  she  encountered  fauns,  who  looked  like  sunburnt 
country  people,  except  that  they  had  hairy  ears,  and  little  horns 
upon  their  foreheads,  and  the  hinder  legs  of  goats,  on  which  they 
gambolled  merrily  about  the  woods  and  fields.  They  were  a  frolic 
some  kind  of  creature,  but  grew  as  sad  as  their  cheerful  dispositions 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  137 

would  allow  when  Ceres  inquired  for  her  daughter,  and  they  had 
no  good  news  to  tell.  But  sometimes  she  came  suddenly  upon  a 
rude  gang  of  satyrs,  who  had  faces  like  monkeys  and  horses'  tails 
behind  them,  and  who  were  generally  dancing  in  a  very  boisterous 
manner,  with  shouts  of  noisy  laughter.  When  she  stopped  to  ques 
tion  them,  they  would  only  laugh  the  louder,  and  make  new  merri 
ment  out  of  the  lone  woman's  distress.  How  unkind  of  those  ugly 
satyrs !  And  once,  while  crossing  a  solitary  sheep-pasture,  she  saw 
a  personage  named  Pan,  seated  at  the  foot  of  a  tall  rock,  and  mak 
ing  music  on  a  shepherd's  flute.  He,  too,  had  horns,  and  hairy 
ears,  and  goat's  feet ;  but,  being  acquainted  with  Mother  Ceres,  he 
answered  her  question  as  civilly  as  he  knew  how,  and  invited  her  to 
taste  some  milk  and  honey  out  of  a  wooden  bowl.  But  neither 
could  Pan  tell  her  what  had  become  of  Proserpina,  any  better  than 
the  rest  of  these  wild  people. 

And  thus  Mother  Ceres  went  wandering  about  for  nine  long  days 
and  nights,  finding  no  trace  of  Proserpina,  unless  it  were  now  and 
then  a  withered  flower  ;  and  these  she  picked  up  and  put  in  her 
bosom,  because  she  fancied  that  they  might  have  fallen  from  her 
poor  child's  hand.  All  day  she  travelled  onward  through  the  hot 
sun  ;  and  at  night,  again,  the  flame  of  the  torch  would  redden  and 
gleam  along  the  pathway,  and  she  continued  her  search  by  its  light, 
without  ever  sitting  down  to  rest. 

On  the  tenth  day,  she  chanced  to  espy  the  mouth  of  a  cavern, 
within  which  (though  it  was  bright  noon  everywhere  else)  there 
would  have  been  only  a  dusky  twilight ;  but  it  so  happened  that  a 
torch  was  burning  there.  It  flickered,  and  struggled  with  the  dus 
kiness,  but  could  not  half  light  up  the  gloomy  cavern  with  all  its 
melancholy  glimmer.  Ceres  was  resolved  to  leave  no  spot  without 
a  search  ;  so  she  peeped  into  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  and  lighted 
it  up  a  little  more,  by  holding  her  own  torch  before  her.  In  so 
doing,  she  caught  a  glimpse  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  woman,  sitting 
on  the  brown  leaves  of  the  last  autumn,  a  great  heap  of  which  had 
been  swept  into  the  cave  by  the  wind.  This  woman  (if  woman  it 
were)  was  by  no  means  so  beautiful  as  many  of  her  sex ;  for  her 
head,  they  tell  me,  was  shaped  very  much  like  a  dog's,  and,  by  way 
of  ornament,  she  wore  a  wreath  of  snakes  around  it.  But  Mother 
Ceres,  the  moment  she  saw  her,  knew  that  this  was  an  odd  kind  of 


138  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

a  person,  who  put  all  her  enjoyment  in  being  miserable,  and  never 
would  have  a  word  to  say  to  other  people,  unless  they  were  as  mel 
ancholy  and  wretched  as  she  herself  delighted  to  be. 

"  I  am  wretched  enough  now,"  thought  poor  Ceres,  "  to  talk 
with  this  melancholy  Hecate,  were  she  ten  times  sadder  than  ever 
she  was  yet." 

So  she  stepped  into  the  cave,  and  sat  down  on  the  withered 
leaves  by  the  dog-headed  woman's  side.  In  all  the  world,  since  her 
daughter's  loss,  she  had  found  no  other  companion. 

"  0  Hecate,"  said  she,  "  if  ever  you  lose  a  daughter,  you  will 
know  what  sorrow  is.  Tell  me,  for  pity's  sake,  have  you  seen  my 
poor  child  Proserpina  pass  by  the  mouth  of  your  cavern  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Hecate,  in  a  cracked  voice,  and  sighing  betwixt 
every  word  or  two,  —  "  no,  Mother  Ceres,  I  have  seen  nothing  of 
your  daughter.  But  my  ears,  you  must  know,  are  made  in  such  a 
way  that  all  cries  of  distress  and  affright,  all  over  the  world  are 
pretty  sure  to  find  their  way  to  them  ;  and  nine  days  ago,  as  I  sat 
in  my  cave,  making  myself  very  miserable,  I  heard  the  voice  of  a 
young  girl,  shrieking  as  if  in  great  distress.  Something  terrible 
has  happened  to  the  child,  you  may  rest  assured.  As  well  as  I 
could  judge,  a  dragon,  or  some  other  cruel  monster,  was  carrying 
her  away." 

"  You  kill  me  by  saying  so,"  cried  Ceres,  almost  ready  to  faint. 
"  Where  was  the  sound,  and  which  way  did  it  seem  to  go  ?  " 

"  It  passed  very  swiftly  along,"  said  Hecate,  "  and,  at  the  same 
time,  there  was  a  heavy  rumbling  of  wheels  towards  the  eastward. 
I  can  tell  you  nothing  more,  except  that,  in  my  honest  opinion,  you 
will  never  see  your  daughter  again.  The  best  advice  I  can  give 
you  is,  to  take  up  your  abode  in  this  cavern,  where  we  will  be  the 
two  most  wretched  women  in  the  world." 

"  Not  yet,  dark  Hecate,"  replied  Ceres.  "  But  do  you  first  come 
with  your  torch,  and  help  me  to  seek  for  my  lost  child.  And  when 
there  shall  be  no  more  hope  of  finding  her  (if  that  black  day  is 
ordained  to  come),  then,  if  you  will  give  me  room  to  fling  myself 
down,  either  on  these  withered  leaves  or  on  the  naked  rock,  I  will 
show  you  what  it  is  to  be  miserable.  But,  until  I  know  that  she 
has  perished  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  I  will  not  allow  myself 
space  even  to  grieve." 


THE   POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  139 

The  dismal  Hecate  did  not  much  like  the  idea  of  going  abroad 
into  the  sunny  world.  But  then  she  reflected  that  the  sorrow  of 
the  disconsolate  Ceres  would  be  like  a  gloomy  twilight  round  about 
them  both,  let  the  sun  shine  ever  so  brightly,  and  that  therefore 
she  might  enjoy  her  bad  spirits  quite  as  well  as  if  she  were  to  stay 
in  the  cave.  So  she  finally  consented  to  go,  and  they  set  out  to 
gether,  both  carrying  torches,  although  it  was  broad  daylight  and 
clear  sunshine.  The  torchlight  seemed  to  make  a  gloom  ;  so  that 
the  people  whom  they  met  along  the  road  could  not  very  distinctly 
see  their  figures ;  and,  indeed,  if  they  once  caught  a  glimpse  of 
Hecate,  with  the  wreath  of  snakes  round  her  forehead,  they  gener 
ally  thought  it  prudent  to  run  away,  without  waiting  for  a  second 
glance. 

As  the  pair  travelled  along  in  this  woe-begone  manner,  a  thought 
struck  Ceres. 

"  There  is  one  person,"  she  exclaimed,  "  who  must  have  seen  my 
poor  child,  and  can  doubtless  tell  what  has  become  of  her.  Why 
did  not  I  think  of  him  before  ?  It  is  Phoebus." 

"What,"  said  Hecate,  "  the  young  man  that  always  sits  in  the 
sunshine  ?  Oh,  pray  do  not  think  of  going  near  him.  He  is  a 
gay,  light,  frivolous  young  fellow,  and  will  only  smile  in  your  face. 
And  besides,  there  is  such  a  glare  of  the  sun  about  him,  that  he 
will  quite  blind  my  poor  eyes,  which  I  have  almost  wept  away  al 
ready." 

"  You  have  promised  to  be  my  companion,"  answered  Ceres. 
"  Come,  let  us  make  haste,  or  the  sunshine  will  be  gone,  and  Phoe 
bus  along  with  it." 

Accordingly,  they  went  along  in  quest  of  Phoebus,  both  of  them 
sighing  grievously,  and  Hecate,  to  say  the  truth,  making  a  great 
deal  worse  lamentation  than  Ceres ;  for  all  the  pleasure  she  had, 
you  know,  lay  in  being  miserable,  and  therefore  she  made  the  most 
of  it.  By  and  by,  after  a  pretty  long  journey,  they  arrived  at  the 
sunniest  spot  in  the  whole  world.  There  they  beheld  a  beautiful 
young  man,  with  long,  curling  ringlets,  which  seemed  to  be  made 
of  golden  sunbeams  ;  his  garments  were  like  light  summer  clouds ; 
and  the  expression  of  his  face  was  so  exceedingly  vivid,  that  Hecate 
held  her  hands  before  her  eyes,  muttering  that  he  ought  to  wear  a 
black  veil.  Phoebus  (for  this  was  the  very  person  whom  they  were 


140  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

seeking)  had  a  lyre  in  his  hands,  and  was  making  its  chords  trem 
ble  with  sweet  music  ;  at  the  same  time  singing  a  most  exquisite 
song,  which  he  had  recently  composed.  For,  besides  a  great  many 
other  accomplishments,  this  young  man  was  renowned  for  his  ad 
mirable  poetry. 

As  Ceres  and  her  dismal  companion  approached  him,  Phoebus 
smiled  on  them  so  cheerfully  that  Hecate's  wreath  of  snakes  gave  a 
spiteful  hiss,  and  Hecate  heartily  wished  herself  back  in  her  cave. 
But  as  for  Ceres,  she  was  too  earnest  in  her  grief  either  to  know  or 
care  whether  Phcebus  smiled  or  frowned. 

"  Phoebus !  "  exclaimed  she,  "  I  am  in  great  trouble,  and  have 
come  to  you  for  assistance.  Can  you  tell  me  what  has  become  of 
my  dear  child  Proserpina  ?  " 

"  Proserpina  !  Proserpina,  did  you  call  her  name  ? "  answered 
Phcebus,  endeavoring  to  recollect ;  for  there  was  such  a  continual 
flow  of  pleasant  ideas  in  his  mind  that  he  was  apt  to  forget  what 
had  happened  no  longer  ago  than  yesterday.  "  Ah,  yes,  I  remem 
ber  her  now.  A  very  lovely  child,  indeed.  I  am  happy  to  tell  you, 
my  dear  madam,  that  I  did  see  the  little  Proserpina  not  many  days 
ago.  You  may  make  yourself  perfectly  easy  about  her.  She  is 
safe,  and  in  excellent  hands." 

"  Oh,  where  is  my  dear  child  ?  "  cried  Ceres,  clasping  her  hands 
and  flinging  herself  at  his  feet. 

"  Why,"  said  Phcebus,  —  and  as  he  spoke,  he  kept  touching  his 
lyre  so  as  to  make  a  thread  of  music  run  in  and  out  among  his 
words,  —  "  as  the  little  damsel  was  gathering  flowers  (and  she  has 
really  a  very  exquisite  taste  for  flowers)  she  was  suddenly  snatched 
up  by  King  Pluto,  and  carried  off  to  his  dominions.  I  have  never 
been  in  that  part  of  the  universe  ;  but  the  royal  palace,  I  am  told, 
is  built  in  a  very  noble  style  of  architecture,  and  of  the  most  splen 
did  and  costly  materials.  Gold,  diamonds,  pearls,  and  all  manner 
of  precious  stones  will  be  your  daughter's  ordinary  playthings.  I 
recommend  to  you,  my  dear  lady,  to  give  yourself  no  uneasiness. 
Proserpina's  sense  of  beauty  will  be  duly  gratified,  and  even  in 
spite  of  the  lack  of  sunshine,  she  will  lead  a  very  enviable  life." 

"  Hush !  say  not  such  a  word  !  "  answered  Ceres,  indignantly. 
"  What  is  there  to  gratify  her  heart  ?  What  are  all  the  splendors 
you  speak  of,  without  affection  ?  I  must  have  her  back  again. 
Will  you  go  with  me,  Phcebus,  to  demand  my  daughter  of  this 
wicked  Pluto  ?  " 


THE   POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 


"  Pray  excuse  me," 
replied  Phoebus,  with 
an  elegant  obeisance. 
"  I  certainly  wish  you 
success,  and  regret  that 
my  own  affairs  are  so 
immediately  pressing 
that  I  cannot  have  the 
pleasure  of  attending 
you.  Besides,  I  am 
not  upon  the  best  of 
terms  with  King  Pluto. 
To  tell  you  the  truth, 
his  three-headed  mas 
tiff  would  never  let  me 
pass  the  gateway;  for 
I  should  be  compelled 
to  take  a  sheaf  of  sun 
beams  along  with  me, 
and  those,  you  know, 
are  forbidden  things 
in  Pluto's  kingdom." 

"Ah,  Phoebus,"  said 
Ceres,  with  bitter 
meaning  in  her  words, 
"you  have  a  harp  in 
stead  of  a  heart.  Fare 
well." 

"  Will  you  not  stay 
a  moment,"  asked 
Phoebus,  "  and  hear 
me  turn  the  pretty  and 
touching  story  of  Pro 
serpina  into  extempc- 
rary  verses  ?  " 

But  Ceres  shook  her 
head,  and  hastened 
away,  along  with  He 
cate.  Phoebus  (who,  as 


142  THE  POMEGRANATE   SEEDS. 

I  have  told  you,  was  an  exquisite  poet)  forthwith  began  to  make  an 
ode  about  the  poor  mother's  grief ;  and,  if  we  were  to  judge  of  his 
sensibility  by  this  beautiful  production,  he  must  have  been  endowed 
with  a  very  tender  heart.  But  when  a  poet  gets  into  the  habit  of 
using  his  heartstrings  to  make  chords  for  his  lyre,  he  may  thrum 
upon  them  as  much  as  he  will,  without  any  great  pain  to  himself. 
Accordingly,  though  Phcebus  sang  a  very  sad  song,  he  was  as  merry 
all  the  while  as  were  the  sunbeams  amid  which  he  dwelt. 

Poor  Mother  Ceres  had  now  found  out  what  had  become  of  her 
daughter,  but  was  not  a  whit  happier  than  before.  Her  case,  on 
the  contrary,  looked  more  desperate  than  ever.  As  long  as  Proser 
pina  was  above  ground  there  might  have  been  hopes  of  regaining 
her.  But  now  that  the  poor  child  was  shut  up  within  the  iron 
gates  of  the  king  of  the  mines,  at  the  threshold  of  which  lay  the 
three-headed  Cerberus,  there  seemed  no  possibility  of  her  ever  mak 
ing  her  escape.  The  dismal  Hecate  who  loved  to  take  the  darkest 
view  of  things,  told  Ceres  that  she  had  better  come  with  her  to  the 
cavern,  and  spend  the  rest  of  her  life  in  being  miserable.  Ceres 
answered  that  Hecate  was  welcome  to  go  back  thither  herself,  but 
that,  for  her  part,  she  would  wander  about  the  earth  in  quest  of 
the  entrance  to  King  Pluto's  dominions.  And  Hecate  took  her  at 
her  word,  and  hurried  back  to  her  beloved  cave,  frightening  a  great 
many  little  children  with  a  glimpse  of  her  dog's  face  as  she  went. 

Poor  Mother  Ceres  !  It  is  melancholy  to  think  of  her,  pursuing 
her  toilsome  way  all  alone,  and  holding  up  that  never-dying  torch, 
the  flame  of  which  seemed  an  emblem  of  the  grief  and  hope  that 
burned  together  in  her  heart.  So  much  did  she  suffer,  that,  though 
her  aspect  had  been  quite  youthful  when  her  troubles  began,  she 
grew  to  look  like  an  elderly  person  in  a  very  brief  time.  She  cared 
not  how  she  was  dressed,  nor  had  she  ever  thought  of  flinging 
away  the  wreath  of  withered  poppies,  which  she  put  on  the  very 
morning  of  Proserpina's  disappearance.  She  roamed  about  in  so 
wild  a  way,  and  with  her  hair  so  dishevelled,  that  people  took  her  for 
some  distracted  creature,  and  never  dreamed  that  this  was  Mother 
Ceres,  who  had  the  oversight  of  every  seed  which  the  husbandman 
planted.  Nowadays,  however,  she  gave  herself  no  trouble  about 
seed-time  nor  harvest,  but  left  the  farmers  to  take  care  of  their  own 
affairs,  and  the  crops  to  fade  or  flourish,  as  the  case  might  be. 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  143 

There  was  nothing,  now,  in  which  Ceres  seemed  to  feel  an  interest, 
unless  when  she  saw  children  at  play,  or  gathering  flowers  along 
the  wayside.  Then,  indeed,  she  would  stand  and  gaze  at  them 
with  tears  in  her  eyes.  The  children,  too,  appeared  to  have  a  sym 
pathy  with  her  grief,  and  would  cluster  themselves  in  a  little  group 
about  her  knees,  and  look  up  wistfully  in  her  face ;  and  Ceres, 
after  giving  them  a  kiss  all  round,  would  lead  them  to  their  homes, 
and  advise  their  mothers  never  to  let  them  stray  out  of  sight. 

"  For  if  they  do,"  said  she,  "  it  may  happen  to  you,  as  it  has  to 
me,  that  the  iron-hearted  King  Pluto  will  take  a  liking  to  your 
darlings,  and  snatch  them  up  in  his  chariot,  and  carry  them  away." 

One  day,  during  her  pilgrimage  in  quest  of  the  entrance  to 
Pluto's  kingdom,  she  came  to  the  palace  of  King  Celeus,  who 
reigned  at  Eleusis.  Ascending  a  lofty  flight  of  steps,  she  entered 
the  portal,  and  found  the  royal  household  in  very  great  alarm 
about  the  queen's  baby.  The  infant,  it  seems,  was  sickly  (being 
troubled  with  its  teeth,  I  suppose),  and  would  take  no  food,  and 
was  all  the  time  moaning  with  pain.  The  queen  —  her  name  was 
Metanira  —  was  desirous  of  finding  a  nurse  ;  and  when  she  be 
held  a  woman  of  matronly  aspect  coming  up  the  palace  steps,  she 
thought,  in  her  own  mind,  that  here  was  the  very  person  whom  she 
needed.  So  Queen  Metanira  ran  to  the  door,  with  the  poor  wailing 
baby  in  her  arms,  and  besought  Ceres  to  take  charge  of  it,  or,  at 
least,  to  tell  her  what  would  do  it  good. 

"Will  you  trust  the  child  entirely  to  me  ?  "  asked  Ceres. 

"  Yes,  and  gladly  too,"  answered  the  queen,  "  if  you  will  devote 
all  your  time  to  him.  For  I  can  see  that  you  have  been  a  mother." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Ceres.  "  I  once  had  a  child  of  my  own. 
Well ;  I  will  be  the  nurse  of  this  poor,  sickly  boy.  But  beware,  I 
warn  you,  that  you  do  not  interfere  with  any  kind  of  treatment 
which  I  may  judge  proper  for  him.  If  you  do  so,  the  poor  infant 
must  suffer  for  his  mother's  folly." 

Then  she  kissed  the  child,  and  it  seemed  to  do  him  good ;  for  he 
smiled  and  nestled  closely  into  her  bosom. 

So  mother  Ceres  set  her  torch  in  a  corner  (where  it  kept  burn 
ing  all  the  while),  and  took  up  her  abode  in  the  palace  of  King 
Celeus,  as  nurse  to  the  little  Prince  Demophoon.  She  treated  him 
as  if  he  were  her  own  child,  and  allowed  neither  the  king  nor  the 


144  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

queen  to  say  whether  he  should  be  bathed  in  warm  or  cold  water, 
or  what  he  should  eat,  or  how  often  he  should  take  the  air,  or  when 
he  should  be  put  fe  bed.  You  would  hardly  believe  me,  if  I  were 
to  teU  how  quickly  the  baby  prince  got  rid  of  his  ailments,  and 
grew  fat,  and  rosy,  and  strong,  and  how  he  had  two  rows  of  ivory 
teeth  in  less  time  than  any  other  little  fellow,  before  or  since.  In 
stead  of  the  palest,  and  wretchedest,  and  puniest  imp  in  the  world 
(as  his  own  mother  confessed  him  to  be  when  Ceres  first  took  him 
in  charge),  he  was  now  a  strapping  baby,  crowing,  laughing,  kick 
ing  up  his  heels,  and  rolling  from  one  end  of  the  room  to  the  other. 
All  the  good  women  of  the  neighborhood  crowded  to  the  palace, 
and  held  up  their  hands,  in  unutterable  amazement,  at  the  beauty 
and  wholesomeness  of  this  darling  little  prince.  Their  wonder  was 
the  greater  because  he  was  never  seen  to  taste  food ;  not  even  so 
much  as  a  cup  of  milk. 

"  Pray,  nurse,"  the  queen  kept  saying,  "  how  is  it  that  you  make 
the  child  thrive  so  ?  " 

"  I  was  a  mother  once,"  Ceres  always  replied  ;  "  and  having 
nursed  my  own  child,  I  know  what  other  children  need." 

But  Queen  Metanira,  as  was  very  natural,  had  a  great  curiosity 
to  know  precisely  what  the  nurse  did  to  her  child.  One  night, 
therefore,  she  hid  herself  in  the  chamber  where  Ceres  and  the  little 
prince  were  accustomed  to  sleep.  There  was  a  fire  in  the  chimney, 
and  it  had  now  crumbled  into  great  coals  and  embers,  which  lay 
glowing  on  the  hearth,  with  a  blaze  flickering  up  now  and  then,  and 
flinging  a  warm  and  ruddy  light  upon  the  walls.  Ceres  sat  before 
the  hearth  with  the  child  in  her  lap,  and  the  firelight  making  her 
shadow  dance  upon  the  ceiling  overhead.  She  undressed  the  little 
prince,  and  bathed  him  all  over  with  some  fragrant  liquid  out  of  a 
vase.  The  next  thing  she  did  was  to  rake  back  the  red  embers, 
and  make  a  hollow  place  among  them,  just  where  the  backlog  had 
been.  At  last,  while  the  baby  was  crowing,  and  clapping  its  fat 
little  hands,  and  laughing  in  the  nurse's  face  (just  as  you  may  have 
seen  your  little  brother  or  sister  do  before  going  into  its  warm 
bath),  Ceres  suddenly  laid  him,  all  naked  as  he  was,  in  the  hollow 
among  the  red-hot  embers.  She  then  raked  the  ashes  over  him 
and  turned  quietly  away. 

You  may  imagine,  if  you  can,  how  Queen  Metanira  shrieked, 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  145 

thinking  nothing  less  than  that  her  dear  child  would  be  burned  to 
a  cinder.  She  burst  forth  from  her  hiding-place,  and  running  to 
the  hearth,  raked  open  the  fire,  and  snatched  up  poor  little  Prince 
Demophoon  out  of  his  bed  of  live  coals,  one  of  which  he  was  grip 
ing  in  each  of  his  fists.  He  immediately  set  up  a  grievous  cry,  as 
babies  are  apt  to  do  when  rudely  startled  out  of  a  sound  sleep.  To 
the  queen's  astonishment  and  joy,  she  could  perceive  no  token  of 
the  child's  being  injured  by  the  hot  fire  in  which  he  had  lain.  She 
now  turned  to  Mother  Ceres,  and  asked  her  to  explain  the  mystery. 

"  Foolish  woman,"  answered  Ceres,  "  did  you  not  promise  to  in 
trust  this  poor  infant  entirely  to  me  ?  You  little  know  the  mischief 
you  have  done  him.  Had  you  left  him  to  my  care,  he  would  have 
grown  up  like  a  child  of  celestial  birth,  endowed  with  superhuman 
strength  and  intelligence,  and  would  have  lived  forever.  Do  you 
imagine  that  earthly  children  are  to  become  immortal  without  being 
tempered  to  it  in  the  fiercest  heat  of  the  fire  ?  But  you  have  ruined 
your  own  son.  For  though  he  will  be  a  strong  man  and  a  hero  in 
his  day,  yet,  on  account  of  your  folly,  he  will  grow  old,  and  finally 
die,  like  the  sons  of  other  women.  The  weak  tenderness  of  his 
mother  has  cost  the  poor  boy  an  immortality.  Farewell." 

Saying  these  words,  she  kissed  the  little  prince  Demophoon,  and 
sighed  to  think  what  he  had  lost,  and  took  her  departure  without 
heeding  Queen  Metanira,  who  entreated  her  to  remain,  and  cover 
up  the  child  among  the  hot  embers  as  often  as  she  pleased.  Poor 
baby !  He  never  slept  so  warmly  again. 

While  she  dwelt  in  the  king's  palace,  Mother  Ceres  had  been  so 
continually  occupied  with  taking  care  of  the  young  prince,  that  her 
heart  was  a  little  lightened  of  its  grief  for  Proserpina.  But  now, 
having  nothing  else  to  busy  herself  about,  she  became  just  as 
wretched  as  before.  At  length,  in  her  despair,  she  came  to  the 
dreadful  resolution  that  not  a  stalk  of  grain,  nor  a  blade  of  grass, 
not  a  potato,  nor  a  turnip,  nor  any  other  vegetable  that  was  good 
for  man  or  beast  to  eat,  should  be  suffered  to  grow  until  her 
daughter  were  restored.  She  even  forbade  the  flowers  to  bloom, 
lest  somebody's  heart  should  be  cheered  by  their  beauty. 

Now,  as  not  so  much  as  a  head  of  asparagus  ever  presumed  to 
poke  itself  out  of  the  ground,  without  the  especial  permission  of 
Ceres,  you  may  conceive  what  a  terrible  calamity  had  here  fallen 


146  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

upon  the  earth.  The  husbandmen  ploughed  and  planted  as  usual ; 
but  there  lay  the  rich  black  furrows,  all  as  barren  as  a  desert  of 
sand.  The  pastures  looked  as  brown  in  the  sweet  month  of  June 
as  ever  they  did  in  chill  November.  The  rich  man's  broad  acres 
and  the  cottager's  small  garden-patch  were  equally  blighted.  Every 
little  girl's  flower-bed  showed  nothing  but  dry  stalks.  The  old 
people  shook  their  white  heads,  and  said  that  the  earth  had  grown 
aged  like  themselves,  and  was  no  longer  capable  of  wearing  the 
warm  smile  of  summer  on  its  face.  It  was  really  piteous  to  see  the 
poor,  starving  cattle  and  sheep,  how  they  followed  behind  Ceres, 
lowing  and  bleating,  as  if  their  instinct  taught  them  to  expect 
help  from  her  ;  and  everybody  that  was  acquainted  with  her  power 
besought  her  to  have  mercy  on  the  human  race,  and,  at  all  events, 
to  let  the  grass  grow.  But  Mother  Ceres,  though  naturally  of  an 
affectionate  disposition,  was  now  inexorable. 

"Never,"  said  she.  "If  the  earth  is  ever  again  to  see  any  ver 
dure,  it  must  first  grow  along  the  path  which  my  daughter  will 
tread  in  coming  back  to  me." 

Finally,  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  other  remedy,  our  old  friend 
Quicksilver  was  sent  post  haste  to  King  Pluto,  in  hopes  that  he 
might  be  persuaded  to  undo  the  mischief  he  had  done,  and  to  set 
everything  right  again,  by  giving  up  Proserpina.  Quicksilver  ac 
cordingly  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  great  gate,  took  a  flying 
leap  right  over  the  three-headed  mastiff,  and  stood  at  the  door  of 
the  palace  in  an  inconceivably  short  time.  The  servants  knew  him 
both  by  his  face  and  garb ;  for  his  short  cloak,  and  his  winged  cap 
and  shoes,  and  his  snaky  staff  had  often  been  seen  thereabouts  in 
times  gone  by.  He  requested  to  be  shown  immediately  into  the 
King's  presence ;  and  Pluto,  who  heard  his  voice  from  the  top  of 
the  stairs,  and  who  loved  to  recreate  himself  with  Quicksilver's 
merry  talk,  called  out  to  him  to  come  up.  And  while  they  settle 
their  business  together,  we  must  inquire  what  Proserpina  has  been 
doing  ever  since  we  saw  her  last. 

The  child  had  declared,  as  you  may  remember,  that  she  would 
not  taste  a  mouthful  of  food  as  long  as  she  should  be  compelled  to 
remain  in  King  Pluto's  palace.  How  she  contrived  to  maintain  her 
resolution,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  herself  tolerably  plump 
and  rosy,  is  more  than  I  can  explain ;  but  some  young  ladies,  I  am 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  147 

given  to  understand,  possess  the  faculty  of  living  on  air,  and  Proser* 
pina  seems  to  have  possessed  it  too.  At  any  rate,  it  was  now  six 
months  since  she  left  the  outside  of  the  earth  ;  and  not  a  morsel, 
so  far  as  the  attendants  were  able  to  testify,  had  yet  passed  between 
her  teeth.  This  was  the  more  creditable  to  Proserpina,  inasmuch 
as  King  Pluto  had  caused  her  to  be  tempted  day  after  day,  with  all 
manner  of  sweetmeats,  and  richly  preserved  fruits,  and  delicacies  of 
every  sort,  such  as  young  people  are  generally  most  fond  of.  But 
her  good  mother  had  often  told  her  of  the  hurtfulness  of  these 
things ;  and  for  that  reason  alone,  if  there  had  been  no  other,  she 
would  have  resolutely  refused  to  taste  them. 

All  this  time,  being  of  a  cheerful  and  active  disposition,  the  little 
damsel  was  not  quite  so  unhappy  as  you  may  have  supposed.  The 
immense  palace  had  a  thousand  rooms,  and  was  full  of  beautiful 
and  wonderful  objects.  There  was  a  never-ceasing  gloom,  it  is 
true,  which  half  hid  itself  among  the  innumerable  pillars,  gliding 
before  the  child  as  she  wandered  among  them,  and  treading  stealth 
ily  behind  her  in  the  echo  of  her  footsteps.  Neither  was  all  the 
dazzle  of  the  precious  stones,  which  flamed  with  their  own  light, 
worth  one  gleam  of  natural  sunshine ;  nor  could  the  most  brilliant 
of  the  many-colored  gems,  which  Proserpina  had  for  playthings,  vie 
with  the  simple  beauty  of  the  flowers  she  used  to  gather.  But  still, 
wherever  the  girl  went,  among  those  gilded  halls  and  chambers,  it 
seemed  as  if  she  carried  nature  and  sunshine  along  with  her,  and  as 
if  she  scattered  dewy  blossoms  on  her  right  hand  and  on  her  left. 
After  Proserpina  came,  the  palace  was  no  longer  the  same  abode 
of  stately  artifice  and  dismal  magnificence  that  it  had  before  been. 
The  inhabitants  all  felt  this,  and  King  Pluto  more  than  any  of 
them. 

"  My  own  little  Proserpina,"  he  used  to  say,  "  I  wish  you  could 
like  me  a  little  better.  We  gloomy  and  cloudy-natured  persons 
have  often  as  warm  hearts  at  bottom,  as  those  of  a  more  cheerful 
character.  If  you  would  only  stay  with  me  of  your  own  accord,  it 
would  make  me  happier  than  the  possession  of  a  hundred  such 
palaces  as  this." 

"  Ah,"  said  Proserpina,  "  you  should  have  tried  to  make  me  like 
you  before  carrying  me  off.  And  the  best  thing  you  can  do  now 
is,  to  let  me  go  again.  Then  I  might  remember  you  sometimes, 


14:8  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

and  think  that  you  were  as  kind  as  you  knew  how  to  be.  Perhaps, 
too,  one  day  or  Other,  I  might  come  back,  and  pay  you  a  visit." 

"No,  no,"  answered  Pluto,  with  his  gloomy  smile,  "I  will  not 
trust  you  for  that.  You  are  too  fond  of  living  in  the  broad  day 
light,  and  gathering  flowers.  What  an  idle  and  childish  taste  that 
is  !  Are  not  these  gems,  which  I  have  ordered  to  be  dug  for  you, 
and  which  are  richer  than  any  in  my  crown,  —  are  they  not  prettier 
than  a  violet  ?  " 

"  Not  half  so  pretty,"  said  Proserpina,  snatching  the  gems  from 
Pluto's  hand,  and  flinging  them  to  the  other  end  of  the  hall.  "  Oh 
my  sweet  violets,  shall  I  never  see  you  again  ?  " 

And  then  she  burst  into  tears.  But  young  people's  tears  have 
very  little  saltness  or  acidity  in  them,  and  do  not  inflame  the  eyes 
so  much  as  those  of  grown  persons;  so  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if,  a  few  moments  afterwards,  Proserpina  was  sporting  through 
the  hall  almost  as  merrily  as  she  and  the  four  sea-nymphs  had 
sported  along  the  edge  of  the  surf  wave.  King  Pluto  gazed  after 
her,  and  wished  that  he,  too,  was  a  child.  And  little  Proserpina, 
when  she  turned  about,  and  beheld  this  great  king  standing  in  his 
splendid  hall,  and  looking  so  grand,  and  so  melancholy,  and  so 
lonesome,  was  smitten  with  a  kind  of  pity.  She  ran  back  to  him, 
and,  for  the  first  time  in  all  her  life,  put  her  small  soft  hand  in  his. 

"  I  love  you  a  little,"  whispered  she,  looking  up  in  his  face. 

"  Do  you,  indeed,  my  dear  child  ?  "  cried  Pluto,  bending  his  dark 
face  down  to  kiss  her ;  but  Proserpina  shrank  away  from  the  kiss, 
for  though  his  features  were  noble,  they  were  very  dusky  and  grim. 
"  Well,  I  have  not  deserved  it  of  you,  after  keeping  you  a  prisoner 
for  so  many  months,  and  starving  you,  besides.  Are  you  not  terri 
bly  hungry?  Is  there  nothing  which  I  can  get  you  to  eat?" 

In  asking  this  question,  the  king  of  the  mines  had  a  very  cun 
ning  purpose ;  for,  you  will  recollect,  if  Proserpina  tasted  a  morsel 
of  food  in  his  dominions,  she  would  never  afterwards  be  at  liberty 
to  quit  them. 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Proserpina.  "  Your  head  cook  is  always 
baking,  and  stewing,  and  roasting,  and  rolling  out  paste,  and  con 
triving  one  dish  or  another,  which  he  imagines  may  be  to  my  liking. 
But  he  might  just  as  well  save  himself  the  trouble,  poor,  fat  little 
man  that  he  is.  I  have  no  appetite  for  anything  in  the  world,  un- 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  149 

less  it  were  a  slice  of  bread  of  my  mother's  own  baking,  or  a  little 
fruit  out  of  her  garden." 

When  Pluto  heard  this,  he  began  to  see  that  he  had  mistaken  the 
best  method  of  tempting  Proserpina  to  eat.  The  cook's  made  dishes 
and  artificial  dainties  were  not  half  so  delicious,  in  the  good  child's 
opinion,  as  the  simple  fare  to  which  Mother  Ceres  had  accustomed 
her.  Wondering  that  he  had  never  thought  of  it  before,  the  king 
now  sent  one  of  his  trusty  attendants,  with  a  large  basket,  to  get 
some  of  the  finest  and  juiciest  pears,  peaches,  and  plums  which 
could  anywhere  be  found  in  the  upper  world.  Unfortunately, 
however,  this  was  during  the  time  when  Ceres  had  forbidden  any 
fruits  or  vegetables  to  grow ;  and,  after  seeking  all  over  the  earth, 
King  Pluto's  servant  found  only  a  single  pomegranate,  and  that  so 
dried  up  as  to  be  not  worth  eating.  Nevertheless,  since  there  was 
no  better  to  be  had,  he  brought  this  dry,  old,  withered  pomegran 
ate  home  to  the  palace,  put  it  on  a  magnificent  golden  salver,  and 
carried  it  up  to  Proserpina.  Now  it  happened,  curiously  enough, 
that,  just  as  the  servant  was  bringing  the  pomegranate  into  the 
back  door  of  the  palace,  our  friend  Quicksilver  had  gone  up  the 
front  steps,  on  his  errand  to  get  Proserpina  away  from  King  Pluto. 

As  soon  as  Proserpina  saw  the  pomegranate  on  the  golden  salver, 
she  told  the  servant  he  had  better  take  it  away  again. 

"  I  shall  not  touch  it,  I  assure  you,"  said  she.  "  If  I  were  ever 
so  hungry,  I  should  never  think  of  eating  such  a  miserable,  dry 
pomegranate  as  that." 

"  It  is  the  only  one  in  the  world,"  said  the  servant. 

He  set  down  the  golden  salver,  with  the  wizened  pomegranate 
upon  it,  and  left  the  room.  When  he  was  gone,  Proserpina  could 
not  help  coming  close  to  the  table,  and  looking  at  this  poor  speci 
men  of  dried  fruit  with  a  great  deal  of  eagerness ;  for,  to  say  the 
truth,  on  seeing  something  that  suited  her  taste,  she  felt  all  the  six 
months'  appetite  taking  possession  of  her  at  once.  To  be  sure,  it 
was  a  very  wretched-looking  pomegranate,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
more  juice  in  it  than  an  oyster-shell.  But  there  was  no  choice  of 
such  things  in  King  Pluto's  palace.  This  was  the  first  fruit  she 
had  seen  there,  and  the  last  she  was  ever  likely  to  see ;  and  unless 
she  ate  it  up  immediately,  it  would  grow  drier  than  it  already 
was,  and  be  wholly  unfit  to  eat. 


150  THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 

"  At  least,  I  may  smell  it,"  thought  Proserpina. 

So  she  took  up  the  pomegranate,  and  applied  it  to  her  nose ;  and, 
somehow  or  other,  being  in  such  close  neighborhood  to  her  mouth, 
the  fruit  found  its  way  into  that  little  red  cave.  Dear  me !  what 
an  everlasting  pity  !  Before  Proserpina  knew  what  she  was  about, 
her  teeth  had  actually  bitten  it,  of  their  own  accord.  Just  as  this 
fatal  deed  was  done,  the  door  of  the  apartment  opened,  and  in  came 
King  Pluto,  followed  by  Quicksilver,  who  had  been  urging  him  to 
let  his  little  prisoner  go.  At  the  first  noise  of  their  entrance,  Pro 
serpina  withdrew  the  pomegranate  from  her  mouth.  But  Quicksil 
ver  (whose  eyes  were  very  keen,  and  his  wits  the  sharpest  that  ever 
anybody  had)  perceived  that  the  child  was  a  little  confused ;  and 
seeing  the  empty  salver,  he  suspected  that  she  had  been  taking  a 
sly  nibble  of  something  or  other.  As  for  honest  Pluto,  he  never 
guessed  at  the  secret. 

"My  little  Proserpina,"  said  the  king,  sitting  down,  and  affec 
tionately  drawing  her  between  his  knees,  "  here  is  Quicksilver,  who 
tells  me  that  a  great  many  misfortunes  have  befallen  innocent  peo 
ple  on  account  of  my  detaining  you  in  my  dominions.  To  confess 
the  truth,  I  myself  had  already  reflected  that  it  was  an  unjustifiable 
act  to  take  you  away  from  your  good  mother.  But,  then,  you  must 
consider,  my  dear  child,  that  this  vast  palace  is  apt  to  be  gloomy 
(although  the  precious  stones  certainly  shine  very  bright),  and  that 
I  am  not  of  the  most  cheerful  disposition,  and  that  therefore  it  was 
a  natural  thing  enough  to  seek  for  the  society  of  some  merrier  crea 
ture  than  myself.  I  hoped  you  would  take  my  crown  for  a  play 
thing,  and  me  —  ah,  you  laugh,  naughty  Proserpina  —  me,  grim  as 
I  am,  for  a  playmate.  It  was  a  silly  expectation." 

"  Not  so  extremely  silly,"  whispered  Proserpina.  "  You  have 
really  amused  me  very  much,  sometimes." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  King  Pluto,  rather  dryly.  "  But  I  can  see, 
plainly  enough,  that  you  think  my  palace  a  dusky  prison,  and  me 
the  iron-hearted  keeper  of  it.  And  an  iron  heart  I  should  surely 
have,  if  I  could  detain  you  here  any  longer,  my  poor  child,  when  it 
is  now  six  months  since  you  tasted  food.  I  give  you  your  liberty. 
Go  with  Quicksilver.  Hasten  home  to  your  dear  mother." 

Now,  although  you  may  not  have  supposed  it,  Proserpina  found 
it  impossible  to  take  leave  of  poor  King  Pluto  without  some  regrets, 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  151 

and  a  good  deal  of  compunction  for  not  telling  him  about  the  pome 
granate.  She  even  shed  a  tear  or  two,  thinking  how  lonely  and 
cheerless  the  great  palace  would  seem  to  him,  with  all  its  ugly  glare 
of  artificial  light,  after  she  herself,  —  his  one  little  ray  of  natural 
sunshine,  whom  he  had  stolen,  to  be  sure,  but  only  because  he  val 
ued  her  so  much,  —  after  she  should  have  departed.  I  know  not 
how  many  kind  things  she  might  have  said  to  the  disconsolate  king 
of  the  mines,  had  not  Quicksilver  hurried  her  away. 

"  Come  along  quickly,"  whispered  he  in  her  ear,  "  or  his  Majesty 
may  change  his  royal  mind.  And  take  care,  above  all  things,  that 
you  say  nothing  of  what  was  brought  you  on  the  golden  salver." 

In  a  very  short  time,  they  had  passed  the  great  gate-way  (leav 
ing  the  three-headed  Cerberus,  barking,  and  yelping,  and  growling, 
with  threefold  din,  behind  them),  and  emerged  upon  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  It  was  delightful  to  behold,  as  Proserpina  hastened 
along,  how  the  path  grew  verdant  behind  and  on  either  side  of  her. 
Wherever  she  set  her  blessed  foot,  there  was  at  once  a  dewy  flower. 
The  violets  gushed  up  along  the  wayside.  The  grass  and  the  grain 
began  to  sprout  with  tenfold  vigor  and  luxuriance,  to  make  up 
for  the  dreary  months  that  had  been  wasted  in  barrenness.  The 
starved  cattle  immediately  set  to  work  grazing,  after  their  long  fast, 
and  ate  enormously  all  day,  and  got  up  at  midnight  to  eat  more. 
But  I  can  assure  you  it  was  a  busy  time  of  year  with  the  farmers, 
when  they  found  the  summer  coming  upon  them  with  such  a  rush. 
Nor  must  I  forget  to  say  that  all  the  birds  in  the  whole  world 
hopped  about  upon  the  newly  blossoming  trees,  and  sang  together 
in  a  prodigious  ecstasy  of  joy. 

Mother  Ceres  had  returned  to  her  deserted  home,  and  was  sitting 
disconsolately  on  the  doorstep,  with  her  torch  burning  in  her  hand. 
She  had  been  idly  watching  the  flame  for  some  moments  past,  when, 
all  at  once,  it  flickered  and  went  out. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  "  thought  she.  "  It  was  an  enchanted 
torch,  and  should  have  kept  burning  till  my  child  came  back." 

Lifting  her  eyes,  she  was  surprised  to  see  a  sudden  verdure  flash 
ing  over  the  brown  and  barren  fields,  exactly  as  you  may  have  ob 
served  a  golden  hue  gleaming  far  and  wide  across  the  landscape, 
from  the  just  risen  sun. 

"  Does  the  earth  disobey  me  ? "  exclaimed  Mother  Ceres,  indig- 


152 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS. 


nantly.  "  Does  it  presume  to  be  green,  when  I  have  bidden  it  be 
barren,  until  my  daughter  shall  be  restored  to  my  arms  ?  " 

"  Then  open  your  arms,  dear  mother,"  cried  a  well-known  voice, 
u  and  take  your  little  daughter  into  them." 

And  Proserpina  came  running,  and  flung  herself  upon  her  moth 


er's  bosom.  Their  mutual  transport  is  not  to  be  described.  The 
grief  of  their  separation  had  caused  both  of  them  to  shed  a  great 
many  tears ;  and  now  they  shed  a  great  many  more,  because  their 
joy  could  not  so  well  express  itself  in  any  other  way. 

When  their  hearts  had  grown  a  little  more  quiet,  Mother  Ceres 
looked  anxiously  at  Proserpina. 


THE  POMEGRANATE  SEEDS.  153 

"My  child,"  said  she,  "did  you  taste  any  food  while  you  were  in 
King  Pluto's  palace?" 

"  Dearest  mother,"  answered  Proserpina,  "  I  will  tell  you  the 
whole  truth.  Until  this  very  morning,  not  a  morsel  of  food  had 
passed  my  lips.  But  to-day,  they  brought  me  a  pomegranate  (a 
very  dry  one  it  was,  and  all  shrivelled  up,  till  there  was  little  left 
of  it  but  seeds  and  skin),  and  having  seen  no  fruit  for  so  long  a 
time,  and  being  faint  with  hunger,  I  was  tempted  just  to  bite  it. 
The  instant  I  tasted  it,  King  Pluto  and  Quicksilver  came  into  the 
room.  I  had  not  swallowed  a  morsel ;  but  —  dear  mother,  I  hope 
it  was  no  harm  —  but  six  of  the  pomegranate  seeds,  I  am  afraid, 
remained  in  my  mouth." 

"  Ah,  unfortunate  child,  and  miserable  me !  "  exclaimed  Ceres. 
"  For  each  of  those  six  pomegranate  seeds  you  must  spend  one 
month  of  every  year  in  King  Pluto's  palace.  You  are  but  half 
restored  to  your  mother.  Only  six  months  with  me,  and  six  with 
that  good-for-nothing  King  of  Darkness  !  " 

"  Do  not  speak  so  harshly  of  poor  King  Pluto,"  said  Proserpina, 
kissing  her  mother.  "  He  has  some  very  good  qualities  ;  and  I 
really  think  I  can  bear  to  spend  six  months  in  his  palace,  if  he  will 
only  let  me  spend  the  other  six  with  you.  He  certainly  did  very 
wrong  to  carry  me  off ;  but  then,  as  he  says,  it  was  but  a  dismal 
sort  of  life  for  him,  to  live  in  that  great  gloomy  place,  all  alone  ; 
and  it  has  made  a  wonderful  change  in  his  spirits  to  have  a  little 
girl  to  run  up  stairs  and  down.  There  is  some  comfort  in  making 
him  so  happy  ;  and  so,  upon  the  whole,  dearest  mother,  let  us  be 
thankful  that  he  is  not  to  keep  me  the  whole  year  round." 


$&IX3&^--.:-r*^':^:\^?;:;&^;:;;]&!.'.'  • 

£&'•  r     U         »  ff     ,lf  \   V  /X  j  WTfA    //  *i^fl  ^      /jilV/tf    \\fli  **}    s\~jr ;&—  \          ^,  f  ,    /.•..  /xf     .  /  .-.    i  ^-     .        j-j     _  j—  -— ni>J 


WHEN  Jason,   the  son 
of  the  dethroned  King  of  lolchos, 
was  a  little  boy,  he  was   sent   away  from 
**'  his  parents,  and  placed  under  the  queerest 

schoolmaster  that  ever  you  heard  of.    This  learned  person 

jfvt.  was  one  °^  the  people,  or  quadrupeds,  called  Centaurs. 
He  lived  in  a  cavern,  and  had  the  body  and  legs  of  a  white  horse, 
with  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  man.  His  name  was  Chiron  ;  and, 
in  spite  of  his  odd  appearance,  he  was  a  very  excellent  teacher,  and 
had  several  scholars,  who  afterwards  did  him  credit  by  making 
a  great  figure  in  the  world.  The  famous  Hercules  was  one,  and 
so  was  Achilles,  and  Philoctetes,  likewise,  and  ^Esculapius,  who 
acquired  immense  repute  as  a  doctor.  The  good  Chiron  taught 
his  pupils  how  to  play  upon  the  harp,  and  how  to  cure  diseases, 
and  how  to  use  the  sword  and  shield,  together  with  various  other 
branches  of  education  in  which  the  lads  of  those  days  used  to  be 
instructed,  instead  of  writing  and  arithmetic. 

I  have  sometimes  suspected  that  Master  Chiron  was  not  really 
very  different  from  other  people,  but  that,  being  a  kind-hearted  and 
merry  old  fellow,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  believe  that  he 
was  a  horse,  and  scrambling  about  the  school-room  on  all  fours,  and 
letting  the  little  boys  ride  upon  his  back.  And  so,  when  his  schol 
ars  had  grown  up,  and  grown  old,  and  were  trotting  their  grand 
children  on  their  knees,  they  told  them  about  the  sports  of  their 
school-days  ;  and  these  young  folks  took  the  idea  that  their  grand 
fathers  had  been  taught  their  letters  by  a  Centaur,  half  man  and 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  155 

half  horse.  Little  children,  not  quite  understanding  what  is  said  to 
them,  often  get  such  absurd  notions  into  their  heads,  you  know. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  has  always  been  told  for  a  fact  (and  always 
will  be  told,  as  long  as  the  world  lasts),  that  Chiron,  with  the  head 
of  a  schoolmaster,  had  the  body  and  legs  of  a  horse.  Just  imagine 
the  grave  old  gentleman  clattering  and  stamping  into  the  school 
room  on  his  four  hoofs,  perhaps  treading  on  some  little  fellow's 
toes,  flourishing  his  switch  tail  instead  of  a  rod,  and,  now  and  then, 
trotting  out  of  doors  to  eat  a  mouthful  of  grass !  I  wonder  what 
the  blacksmith  charged  him  for  a  set  of  iron  shoes. 

So  Jason  dwelt  in  the  cave,  with  this  four-footed  Chiron,  from  the 
time  that  he  was  an  infant,  only  a  few  months  old,  until  he  had 
grown  to  the  full  height  of  a  man.  He  became  a  very  good  harper, 
I  suppose,  and  skilful  in  the  use  of  weapons,  and  tolerably  ac 
quainted  with  herbs  and  other  doctor's  stuff,  and,  above  all,  an 
admirable  horseman  ;  for,  in  teaching  young  people  to  ride,  the 
good  Chiron  must  have  been  without  a  rival  among  schoolmasters. 
At  length,  being  now  a  tall  and  athletic  youth,  Jason  resolved  to 
seek  his  fortune  in  the  world,  without  asking  Chiron's  advice,  or 
telling  him  anything  about  the  matter.  This  was  very  unwise,  to 
be  sure  ;  and  I  hope  none  of  you,  my  little  hearers,  will  ever  follow 
Jason's  example.  But,  you  are  to  understand,  he  had  heard  how 
that  he  himself  was  a  prince  royal,  and  how  his  father,  King  ^Eson, 
had  been  deprived  of  the  kingdom  of  lolchos  by  a  certain  Pelias, 
who  would  also  have  killed  Jason,  had  he  not  been  hidden  in  the 
Centaur's  cave.  And,  being  come  to  the  strength  of  a  man,  Jason 
determined  to  set  all  this  business  to  rights,  and  to  punish  the 
wicked  Pelias  for  wronging  his  dear  father,  and  to  cast  him  down 
from  the  throne,  and  seat  himself  there  instead. 

With  this  intention,  he  took  a  spear  in  each  hand,  and  threw  a 
leopard's  skin  over  his  shoulders,  to  keep  off  the  rain,  and  set  forth 
on  his  travels,  with  his  long  yellow  ringlets  waving  in  the  wind. 
The  part  of  his  dress  on  which  he  most  prided  himself  was  a  pair 
of  sandals,  that  had  been  his  father's.  They  were  handsomely  em 
broidered,  and  were  tied  upon  his  feet  with  strings  of  gold.  But 
his  whole  attire  was  such  as  people  did  not  very  often  see ;  and  as 
he  passed  along,  the  women  and  children  ran  to  the  doors  and  win 
dows,  wondering  whither  this  beautiful  youth  was  journeying  with 


156  THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

his  leopard's  skin  and  his  golden-tied  sandals,  and  what  heroic  deeds 
he  meant  to  perform,  with  a  spear  in  his  right  hand  and  another  in 
his  left. 

I  know  not  how  far  Jason  had  travelled,  when  he  came  to  a  tur 
bulent  river,  which  rushed  right  across  his  pathway,  with  specks  of 
white  foam  among  its  black  eddies,  hurrying  tumultuously  onward, 
and  roaring  angrily  as  it  went.  Though  not  a  very  broad  river  in 
the  dry  seasons  of  the  year,  it  was  now  swollen  by  heavy  rains  and 
by  the  melting  of  the  snow  on  the  sides  of  Mount  Olympus ;  and 
it  thundered  so  loudly,  and  looked  so  wild  and  dangerous,  that 
Jason,  bold  as  he  was,  thought  it  prudent  to  pause  upon  the  brink. 
The  bed  of  the  stream  seemed  to  be  strewn  with  sharp  and  rugged 
rocks,  some  of  which  thrust  themselves  above  the  water.  By  and 
by,  an  uprooted  tree,  with  shattered  branches,  came  drifting  along 
the  current,  and  got  entangled  among  the  rocks.  Now  and  then, 
a  drowned  sheep,  and  once  the  carcass  of  a  cow,  floated  past. 

In  short,  the  swollen  river  had  already  done  a  great  deal  of  mis 
chief.  It  was  evidently  too  deep  for  Jason  to  wade,  and  too  boister 
ous  for  him  to  swim  ;  he  could  see  no  bridge  ;  and  as  for  a  boat, 
had  there  been  any,  the  rocks  would  have  broken  it  to  pieces  in  an 
instant. 

"  See  the  poor  lad,"  said  a  cracked  voice  close  to  his  side.  "  He 
must  have  had  but  a  poor  education,  since  he  does  not  know  how  to 
cross  a  little  stream  like  this.  Or  is  he  afraid  of  wetting  his  fine 
golden-stringed  sandals  ?  It  is  a  pity  his  four-footed  schoolmaster 
is  not  here  to  carry  him  safely  across  on  his  back !  " 

Jason  looked  round  greatly  surprised,  for  he  did  not  know  that 
anybody  was  near.  But  beside  him  stood  an  old  woman,  with  a 
ragged  mantle  over  her  head,  leaning  on  a  staff,  the  top  of  which 
was  carved  into  the  shape  of  a  cuckoo.  She  looked  very  aged,  and 
wrinkled,  and  infirm  ;  and  yet  her  eyes,  which  were  as  brown  as 
those  of  an  ox,  were  so  extremely  large  and  beautiful,  that,  when 
they  were  fixed  on  Jason's  eyes,  he  could  see  nothing  else  but  them. 
The  old  woman  had  a  pomegranate  in  her  hand,  although  the  fruit 
was  then  quite  out  of  season. 

"  Whither  are  you  going,  Jason  ?  "  she  now  asked. 

She  seemed  to  know  his  name,  you  will  observe ;  and,  indeed, 
those  great  brown  eyes  looked  as  if  they  had  a  knowledge  of  every- 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  157 

thing,  whether  past  or  to  come.     While  Jason  was  gazing  at  her,  a 
peacock  strutted  forward  and  took  his  stand  at  the  old  woman's  side. 

"  I  am  going  to  lolchos,"  answered  the  young  man,  "  to  bid  the 
wicked  King  Pelias  come  down  from  my  father's  throne,  and  let  me 
reign  in  his  stead." 

"  Ah,  well,  then,"  said  the  old  woman,  still  with  the  same  cracked 
voice,  "  if  that  is  all  your  business,  you  need  not  be  in  a  very  great 
hurry.  Just  take  me  on  your  back,  there  's  a  good  youth,  and  carry 
me  across  the  river.  I  and  my  peacock  have  something  to  do  on 
the  other  side,  as  well  as  yourself." 

"  Good  mother,"  replied  Jason,  "  your  business  can  hardly  be  so 
important  as  the  pulling  down  a  king  from  his  throne.  Besides, 
as  you  may  see  for  yourself,  the  river  is  very  boisterous ;  and  if 
I  should  chance  to  stumble,  it  would  sweep  both  of  us  away  more 
easily  than  it  has  carried  off  yonder  uprooted  tree.  I  would  gladly 
help  you  if  I  could ;  but  I  doubt  whether  I  am  strong  enough  to 
carry  you  across." 

"  Then,"  said  she,  very  scornfully,  "  neither  are  you  strong 
enough  to  pull  King  Pelias  off  his  throne.  And,  Jason,  unless  you 
will  help  an  old  woman  at  her  need,  you  ought  not  to  be  a  king. 
What  are  kings  made  for,  save  to  succor  the  feeble  and  distressed  ? 
But  do  as  you  please.  Either  take  me  on  your  back,  or  with  my 
poor  old  limbs  I  shall  try  my  best  to  struggle  across  the  stream." 

Saying  this,  the  old  woman  poked  with  her  staff  in  the  river,  as 
if  to  find  the  safest  place  in  its  rocky  bed  where  she  might  make 
the  first  step.  But  Jason,  by  this  time,  had  grown  ashamed  of  his 
reluctance  to  help  her.  He  felt  that  he  could  never  forgive  him 
self,  if  this  poor  feeble  creature  should  come  to  any  harm  in  at 
tempting  to  wrestle  against  the  headlong  current.  The  good 
Chiron,  whether  half  horse  or  no,  had  taught  him  that  the  noblest 
use  of  his  strength  was  to  assist  the  weak ;  and  also  that  he  must 
treat  every  young  woman  as  if  she  were  his  sister,  and  every  old 
one  like  a  mother.  Remembering  these  maxims,  the  vigorous  and 
beautiful  young  man  knelt  down,  and  requested  the  good  dame 
to  mount  upon  his  back. 

"  The  passage  seems  to  me  not  very  safe,"  he  remarked.  "  But 
as  your  business  is  so  urgent,  I  will  try  to  carry  you  across.  If  the 
river  sweeps  you  away,  it  shall  take  me  too." 


158  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

"  That,  no  doubt,  will  be  a  great  comfort  to  both  of  us,"  quoth 
the  old  woman.  "  But  never  fear.  We  shall  get  safely  across." 

So  she  threw  her  arms  around  Jason's  neck  ;  and  lifting  her  from 
the  ground,  he  stepped  boldly  into  the  raging  and  foamy  current, 
and  began  to  stagger  away  from  the  shore.  As  for  the  peacock,  it 
alighted  on  the  old  dame's  shoulder.  Jason's  two  spears,  one  in 
each  hand,  kept  him  from  stumbling,  and  enabled  him  to  feel  his 
way  among  the  hidden  rocks  ;  although,  every  instant,  he  expected 
that  his  companion  and  himself  would  go  down  the  stream,  together 
with  the  drift-wood  of  shattered  trees,  and  the  carcasses  of  the  sheep 
and  cow.  Down  came  the  cold,  snowy  torrent  from  the  steep  side 
of  Olympus,  raging  and  thundering  as  if  it  had  a  real  spite  against 
Jason,  or  at  all  events,  were  determined  to  snatch  off  his  living  bur 
den  from  his  shoulders.  When  he  was  half-way  across,  the  uprooted 
tree  (which  I  have  already  told  you  about)  broke  loose  from  among 
the  rocks,  and  bore  down  upon  him,  with  all  its  splintered  branches 
sticking  out  like  the  hundred  arms  of  the  giant  Briareus.  It  rushed 
past,  however,  without  touching  him.  But  the  next  moment,  his 
foot  was  caught  in  a  crevice  between  two  rocks,  and  stuck  there  so 
fast,  that,  in  the  effort  to  get  free,  he  lost  one  of  his  golden-stringed 
sandals. 

At  this  accident  Jason  could  not  help  uttering  a  cry  of  vexation. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Jason  ?  "  asked  the  old  woman. 

"  Matter  enough,'5  said  the  young  man.  "  I  have  lost  a  sandal 
here  among  the  rocks.  And  what  sort  of  a  figure  shall  I  cut  at 
the  court  of  King  Pelias,  with  a  golden-stringed  sandal  on  one  foot, 
and  the  other  foot  bare  !  " 

"  Do  not  take  it  to  heart,"  answered  his  companion,  cheerily. 
"  You  never  met  with  better  fortune  than  in  losing  that  sandal.  It 
satisfies  me  that  you  are  the  very  person  whom  the  Speaking  Oak 
has  been  talking  about." 

There  was  no  time,  just  then,  to  inquire  what  the  Speaking  Oak 
had  said.  But  the  briskness  of  her  tone  encouraged  the  young- 
man  ;  and  besides,  he  had  never  in  his  life  felt  so  vigorous  and 
mighty  as  since  taking  this  old  woman  on  his  back.  Instead  of 
being  exhausted,  he  gathered  strength  as  he  went  on ;  and,  strug 
gling  up  against  the  torrent,  he  at  last  gained  the  opposite  shore, 
clambered  up  the  bank,  and  set  down  the  old  dame  and  her  peacock 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 


150 


safely  on  the  grass.  As 
soon  as  this  was  done, 
however,  he  could  not 
help  looking  rather  de 
spondently  at  his  bare 
foot,  with  only  a  rem 
nant  of  the  golden  string 
of  the  sandal  clinging 
round  his  ankle. 

"  You  will  get  a  hand 
somer  pair  of  sandals  by 
and  by,"  said  the  old 
woman,  with  a  kindly 
look  out  of  her  beauti 
ful  brown  eyes.  "  Only 
let  King  Pelias  get  a 
glimpse  of  that  bare 
foot,  and  you  shall  see 
him  turn  as  pale  as 
ashes,  I  promise  you. 
There  is  your  path. 
Go  along,  my  good  Ja 
son,  and  my  blessing  go  ^ 
with  you.  And  when 
you  sit  on  your  throne, 
remember  the  old  wo 
man  whom  you  helped 
over  the  river." 

With  these  words,  she 
hobbled  away,  giving 
him  a  smile  over  her 
shoulder  as  she  depart 
ed.  Whether  the  light 
of  her  beautiful  brown 
eyes  threw  a  glory  round 
about  her,  or  whatever 
the  cause  might  be,  Ja 
son  fancied  that  there 
was  something  very  no 
ble  and  majestic  in  her 


160  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

figure,  after  all,  and  that,  though  her  gait  seemed  to  be  a  rheu 
matic  hobble,  yet  she  moved  with  as  much  grace  and  dignity  as  any 
queen  on  earth.  Her  peacock,  which  had  now  fluttered  down  from 
her  shoulder,  strutted  behind  her  in  prodigious  pomp,  and  spread 
out  its  magnificent  tail  on  purpose  for  Jason  to  admire  it. 

When  the  old  dame  and  her  peacock  were  out  of  sight,  Jason  set 
forward  on  his  journey.  After  travelling  a  pretty  long  distance, 
he  came  to  a  town  situated  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  and  not  a 
great  way  from  the  shore  of  the  sea.  On  the  outside  of  the  town 
there  was  an  immense  crowd  of  people,  not  only  men  and  women, 
but  children,  too,  all  in  their  best  clothes,  and  evidently  enjoying  a 
holiday.  The  crowd  was  thickest  towards  the  sea-shore ;  and  in 
that  direction,  over  the  people's  heads,  Jason  saw  a  wreath  of 
smoke,  curling  upward  to  the  blue  sky.  He  inquired  of  one  of  the 
multitude  what  town  it  was,  near  by,  and  why  so  many  persons 
were  here  assembled  together. 

"This  is  the  kingdom  of  lolchos,"  answered  the  man,  "and  we 
are  the  subjects  of  King  Pelias.  Our  monarch  has  summoned  us 
together,  that  we  may  see  him  sacrifice  a  black  bull  to  Neptune, 
who,  they  say,  is  his  Majesty's  father.  Yonder  is  the  king,  where 
you  see  the  smoke  going  up  from  the  altar." 

While  the  man  spoke  he  eyed  Jason  with  great  curiosity ;  for  his 
garb  was  quite  unlike  that  of  the  lolchians,  and  it  looked  very  odd 
to  see  a  youth  with  a  leopard's  skin  over  his  shoulders,  and  each 
hand  grasping  a  spear.  Jason  perceived,  too,  that  the  man  stared 
particularly  at  his  feet,  one  of  which,  you  remember,  was  bare, 
while  the  other  was  decorated  with  his  father's  golden-stringed  san 
dal. 

"  Look  at  him  !  only  look  at  him !  "  said  the  man  to  his  next 
neighbor.  "  Do  you  see  ?  He  wears  but  one  sandal !  " 

Upon  this,  first  one  person,  and  then  another,  began  to  stare  at 
Jason,  and  everybody  seemed  to  be  greatly  struck  with  something 
in  his  aspect ;  though  they  turned  their  eyes  much  oftener  towards 
his  feet  than,  to  any  other  part  of  his  figure.  Besides,  he  could 
hear  them  whispering  to  one  another. 

"  One  sandal !  One  sandal !  "  they  kept  saying.  "  The  man 
with  one  sandal !  Here  he  is  at  last !  Whence  has  he  come  ? 
What  does  he  mean  to  do  ?  What  will  the  king  say  to  the  one- 
sandalled  man  ?  " 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  161 

Poor  Jason  was  greatly  abashed,  and  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
people  of  lolchos  were  exceedingly  ill  bred,  to  take  such  public  no 
tice  of  an  accidental  deficiency  in  his  dress.  Meanwhile,  whether 
it  were  that  they  hustled  him  forward,  or  that  Jason,  of  his  own 
accord,  thrust  a  passage  through  the  crowd,  it  so  happened  that  he 
soon  found  himself  close  to  the  smoking  altar,  where  King  Pelias 
was  sacrificino;  the  black  bull.  The  murmur  and  hum  of  the  mul- 

o 

titude,  in  their  surprise  at  the  spectacle  of  Jason  with  his  one  bare 
foot,  grew  so  loud  that  it  disturbed  the  ceremonies ;  and  the  king, 
holding  the  great  knife  with  which  he  was  just  going  to  cut  the 
bull's  throat,  turned  angrily  about,  and  fixed  his  eyes  on  Jason. 
The  people  had  now  withdrawn  from  around  him,  so  that  the  youth 
stood  in  an  open  space  near  the  smoking  altar,  front  to  front  with 
the  angry  King  Pelias. 

"  Who  are  you  ?  "  cried  the  king,  with  a  terrible  frown.  "  And 
how  dare  you  make  this  disturbance,  while  I  am  sacrificing  a  black 
bull  to  my  father  Neptune?  " 

"  It  is  no  fault  of  mine,"  answered  Jason.  "  Your  Majesty  must 
blame  the  rudeness  of  your  subjects,  who  have  raised  all  this  tumult 
because  one  of  my  feet  happens  to  be  bare." 

When  Jason  said  this,  the  king  gave  a  quick,  startled  glance 
down  at  his  feet. 

"  Ha !  "  muttered  he,  "  here  is  the  one-sandalled  fellow,  sure 
enough  !  What  can  I  do  with  him  ?  " 

And  he  clutched  more  closely  the  great  knife  in  his  hand,  as  if 
he  were  half  a  mind  to  slay  Jason  instead  of  the  black  bull.  The 
people  round  about  caught  up  the  king's  words  indistinctly  as  they 
were  uttered ;  and  first  there  was  a  murmur  among  them,  and  then 
a  loud  shout. 

"  The  one-sandalled  man  has  come  !  The  prophecy  must  be  ful 
filled  !  " 

For  you  are  to  know  that,  many  years  before,  King  Pelias  had 
been  told  by  the  Speaking  Oak  of  Dodona,  that  a  man  with  one 
sandal  should  cast  him  down  from  his  throne.  On  this  account,  he 
had  given  strict  orders  that  nobody  should  ever  come  into  his  pres 
ence,  unless  both  sandals  were  securely  tied  upon  his  feet ;  and  he 
kept  an  officer  in  his  palace,  whose  sole  business  it  was  to  examine 
people's  sandals,  and  to  supply  them  with  a  new  pair,  at  the  ex- 


162  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

pense  of  the  royal  treasury,  as  soon  as  the  old  ones  began  to  wear 
out.  In  the  whole  course  of  the  king's  reign,  he  had  never  been 
thrown  into  such  a  fright  and  agitation  as  by  the  spectacle  of  poor 
Jason's  bare  foot.  But,  as  he  was  naturally  a  bold  and  hard 
hearted  man,  he  soon  took  courage,  and  began  to  consider  in  what 
way  he  might  rid  himself  of  this  terrible  one-sandalled  stranger. 

"  My  good  young  man,"  said  King  Pelias,  taking  the  softest  tone 
imaginable,  in  order  to  throw  Jason  off  his  guard,  "  you  are  exces 
sively  welcome  to  my  kingdom.  Judging  by  your  dress,  you  must 
have  travelled  a  long  distance ;  for  it  is  not  the  fashion  to  wear 
leopard-skins  in  this  part  of  the  world.  Pray  what  may  I  call  your 
name  ?  and  where  did  you  receive  your  education  ?  " 

"  My  name  is  Jason,"  answered  the  young  stranger.  "  Ever 
since  my  infancy,  I  have  dwelt  in  the  cave  of  Chiron  the  Centaur. 
He  was  my  instructor,  and  taught  me  music,  and  horsemanship, 
and  how  to  cure  wounds,  and  likewise  how  to  inflict  wounds  with 
my  weapons !  " 

"  I  have  heard  of  Chiron  the  schoolmaster,"  replied  King  Pelias, 
"  and  how  that  there  is  an  immense  deal  of  learning  and  wisdom  in 
his  head,  although  it  happens  to  be  set  on  a  horse's  body.  It  gives 
me  great  delight  to  see  one  of  his  scholars  at  my  court.  But,  to 
test  how  much  you  have  profited  under  so  excellent  a  teacher,  will 
you  allow  me  to  ask  you  a  single  question  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  very  wise,"  said  Jason.  "  But  ask  me 
what  you  please,  and  I  will  answer  to  the  best  of  my  ability." 

Now  King  Pelias  meant  cunningly  to  entrap  the  young  man,  and 
to  make  him  say  something  that  should  be  the  cause  of  mischief 
and  destruction  to  himself.  So  with  a  crafty  and  evil  smile  upon 
his  face,  he  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

"  What  would  you  do,  brave  Jason,"  asked  he,  "  if  there  were  a 
man  in  the  world,  by  whom,  as  you  had  reason  to  believe,  you  were 
doomed  to  be  ruined  and  slain,  —  what  would  you  do,  I  say,  if  that 
man  stood  before  you,  and  in  your  power  ?  " 

When  Jason  saw  the  malice  and  wickedness  which  King  Pelias 
could  not  prevent  from  gleaming  out  of  his  eyes,  he  probably 
guessed  that  the  king  had  discovered  what  he  came  for,  and  that  he 
intended  to  turn  his  own  words  against  himself.  Still  he  scorned  to 
tell  a  falsehood.  Like  an  upright  and  honorable  prince,  as  he  was, 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  163 

he  determined  to  speak  out  the  real  truth.  Since  the  king  had 
chosen  to  ask  him  the  question,  and  since  Jason  had  promised  him 
an  answer,  there  was  no  right  way,  save  to  tell  him  precisely  what 
would  be  the  most  prudent  thing  to  do,  if  he  had  his  worst  enemy 
in  his  power. 

Therefore,  after  a  moment's  consideration,  he  spoke  up,  with  a 
firm  and  manly  voice. 

"I  would  send  such  a  man,"  said  he,  "in  quest  of  the  Golden 
Fleece ! " 

This  enterprise,  you  will  understand,  was,  of  all  others,  the  most 
difficult  and  dangerous  in  the  world.  In  the  first  place,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  make  a  long  voyage  through  unknown  seas.  There 
was  hardly  a  hope,  or  a  possibility,  that  any  young  man  who  should 
undertake  this  voyage  would  either  succeed  in  obtaining  the  Golden 
Fleece,  or  would  survive  to  return  home,  and  tell  of  the  perils  he 
had  run.  The  eyes  of  King  Pelias  sparkled  with  joy,  therefore, 
when  he  heard  Jason's  reply. 

"  Well  said,  wise  man  with  the  one  sandal !  "  cried  he.  "  Go, 
then,  and,  at  the  peril  of  your  life,  bring  me  back  the  Golden 
Fleece." 

"  I  go,"  answered  Jason,  composedly.  "  If  I  fail,  you  need  not 
fear  that  I  will  ever  come  back  to  trouble  you  again.  But  if  I  re 
turn  to  lolchos  with  the  prize,  then,  King  Pelias,  you  must  hasten 
down  from  your  lofty  throne,  and  give  me  your  crown  and  sceptre." 

"  That  I  will,"  said  the  king,  with  a  sneer.  "  Meantime,  I  will 
keep  them  very  safely  for  you." 

The  first  thing  that  Jason  thought  of  doing,  after  he  left  the 
king's  presence,  was  to  go  to  Dodona,  and  inquire  of  the  Talking 
Oak  what  course  it  was  best  to  pursue.  This  wonderful  tree  stood 
in  the  centre  of  an  ancient  wood.  Its  stately  trunk  rose  up  a  hun 
dred  feet  into  the  air,  and  threw  a  broad  and  dense  shadow  over 
more  than  an  acre  of  ground.  Standing  beneath  it,  Jason  looked 
up  among  the  knotted  branches  and  green  leaves,  and  into  the  mys 
terious  heart  of  the  old  tree,  and  spoke  aloud,  as  if  he  were  address 
ing  some  person  who  had  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  foliage. 

"  What  shall  I  do,"  said  he,  "  in  order  to  win  the  Golden 
Fleece  ?  " 

At  first  there  was  a  deep  silence,  not  only  within  the  shadow  of 


164  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

the  Talking  Oak,  but  all  through  the  solitary  wood.  In  a  moment 
or  two,  however,  the  leaves  of  the  oak  began  to  stir  and  rustle,  as 
if  a  gentle  breeze  were  wandering  amongst  them,  although  the 
other  trees  of  the  wood  were  perfectly  still.  The  sound  grew  louder, 
and  became  like  the  roar  of  a  high  wind.  By  and  by,  Jason  im 
agined  that  he  could  distinguish  words,  but  very  confusedly,  because 
each  separate  leaf  of  the  tree  seemed  to  be  a  tongue,  and  the  whole 
myriad  of  tongues  were  babbling  at  once.  But  the  noise  waxed 
broader  and  deeper,  until  it  resembled  a  tornado  sweeping  through 
the  oak,  and  making  one  great  utterance  out  of  the  thousand  and 
thousand  of  little  murmurs  which  each  leafy  tongue  had  caused 
by  its  rustling.  And  now,  though  it  still  had  the  tone  of  mighty 
wind  roaring  among  the  branches,  it  was  also  like  a  deep  bass 
voice,  speaking,  as  distinctly  as  a  tree  could  be  expected  to  speak, 
the  following  words :  — 

"  Go  to  Argus,  the  ship-builder,  and  bid  him  build  a  galley  with 
fifty  oars." 

Then  the  voice  melted  again  into  the  indistinct  murmur  of  the 
rustling  leaves,  and  died  gradually  away.  When  it  was  quite  gone, 
Jason  felt  inclined  to  doubt  whether  he  had  actually  heard  the 
words,  or  whether  his  fancy  had  not  shaped  them  out  of  the  ordi 
nary  sound  made  by  a  breeze,  while  passing  through  the  thick  fo 
liage  of  the  tree. 

But  on  inquiry  among  the  people  of  lolchos,  he  found  that  there 
was  really  a  man  in  the  city,  by  the  name  of  Argus,  who  was  a  very 
skilful  builder  of  vessels.  This  showed  some  intelligence  in  the 
oak ;  else  how  should  it  have  known  that  any  such  person  existed  ? 
At  Jason's  request,  Argus  readily  consented  to  build  him  a  galley 
so  big  that  it  should  require  fifty  strong  men  to  row  it ;  although 
no  vessel  of  such  .a  size  and  burden  had  heretofore  been  seen  in  the 
world.  So  the  head  carpenter,  and  all  his  journeymen  and  appren 
tices,  began  their  work  ;  and  for  a  good  while  afterwards,  there 
they  were,  busily  employed,  hewing  out  the  timbers,  and  making  a 
great  clatter  with  their  hammers  ;  until  the  new  ship,  which  was 
called  the  Argo,  seemed  to  be  quite  ready  for  sea.  And,  as  the 
Talking  Oak  had  already  given  him  such  good  advice,  Jason  thought 
that  it  would  not  be  amiss  to  ask  for  a  little  more.  He  visited  it 
again,  therefore,  and  standing  beside  its  huge,  rough  trunk,  in 
quired  what  he  should  do  next. 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  167 

This  time,  there  was  no  such  universal  quivering  of  the  leaves, 
throughout  the  whole  tree,  as  there  had  been  before.  But  after  a 
while,  Jason  observed  that  the  foliage  of  a  great  branch  which 
stretched  above  his  head  had  begun  to  rustle,  as  if  the  wind  were 
stirring  that  one  bough,  while  all  the  other  boughs  of  the  oak  were 
at  rest. 

"  Cut  me  off  !  "  said  the  branch,  as  soon  as  it  could  speak  dis 
tinctly,  —  "  cut  me  off  !  cut  me  off  !  and  carve  me  into  a  figure 
head  for  your  galley." 

Accordingly,  Jason  took  the  branch  at  its  word,  and  lopped  it  off 
the  tree.  A  carver  in  the  neighborhood  engaged  to  make  the  fig 
ure-head.  He  was  a  tolerably  good  workman,  and  had  already 
carved  several  figure-heads,  in  what  he  intended  for  feminine  shapes, 
and  looking  pretty  much  like  those  which  we  see  nowadays  stuck 
up  under  a  vessel's  bowsprit,  with  great  staring  eyes,  that  never 
wink  at  the  dash  of  the  spray.  But  (what  was  very  strange)  the 
carver  found  that  his  hand  was  guided  by  some  unseen  power,  and 
by  a  skill  beyond  his  own,  and  that  his  tools  shaped  out  an  image 
which  he  had  never  dreamed  of.  When  the  work  was  finished,  it 
turned  out  to  be  the  figure  of  a  beautiful  woman  with  a  helmet  on 
her  head,  from  beneath  which  the  long  ringlets  fell  down  upon  her 
shoulders.  On  the  left  arm  was  a  shield,  and  in  its  centre  appeared 
a  lifelike  representation  of  the  head  of  Medusa  with  the  snaky  locks. 
The  right  arm  was  extended,  as  if  pointing  onward.  The  face  of 
this  wonderful  statue,  though  not  angry  or  forbidding,  was  so  grave 
and  majestic,  that  perhaps  you  might  call  it  severe  ;  and  as  for  the 
mouth,  it  seemed  just  ready  to  unclose  its  lips,  and  utter  words  of 
the  deepest  wisdom. 

Jason  was  delighted  with  the  oaken  image,  and  gave  the  carver 
no  rest  until  it  was  completed,  and  set  up  where  a  figure-head  has 
always  stood,  from  that  time  to  this,  in  the  vessel's  prow. 

"  And  now,"  cried  he,  as  he  stood  gazing  at  the  calm,  majestic 
face  of  the  statue,  "  I  must  go  to  the  Talking  Oak,  and  inquire 
what  next  to  do." 

"  There  is  no  need  of  that,  Jason,"  said  a  voice  which,  though  it 
was  far  lower,  reminded  him  of  the  mighty  tones  of  the  great  oak. 
"  When  you  desire  good  advice,  you  can  seek  it  of  me." 

Jason  had  been  looking  straight  into  the  face  of  the  image  when 


THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

these  words  were  spoken.  But  he  could  hardly  believe  either  his 
ears  or  his  eyes.  The  truth  was,  however,  that  the  oaken  lips  had 
moved,  and,  to  all  appearance,  the  voice  had  proceeded  from  the 
statue's  mouth.  Recovering  a  little  from  his  surprise,  Jason  be 
thought  himself  that  the  image  had  been  carved  out  of  the  wood  of 
the  Talking  Oak,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  really  no  great  won 
der,  but  on  the  contrary,  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  that 
it  should  possess  the  faculty  of  speech.  It  would  have  been  very 
odd,  indeed,  if  it  had  not.  But  certainly  it  was  a  great  piece  of 
good  fortune  that  he  should  be  able  to  carry  so  wise  a  block  of 
wood  along  with  him  in  his  perilous  voyage. 

"  Tell  me,  wondrous  image,"  exclaimed  Jason,  —  "  since  you  in 
herit  the  wisdom  of  the  Speaking  Oak  of  Dodona,  whose  daughter 
you  are,  —  tell  me,  where  shall  I  find  fifty  bold  youths,  who  will 
take  each  of  them  an  oar  of  my  galley  ?  They  must  have  sturdy 
arms  to  row,  and  brave  hearts  to  encounter  perils,  or  we  shall  never 
win  the  Golden  Fleece." 

"  Go,"  replied  the  oaken  image,  —  "  go,  summon  all  the  heroes 
of  Greece." 

And,  in  fact,  considering  what  a  great  deed  was  to  be  done, 
could  any  advice  be  wiser  than  this  which  Jason  received  from  the 
figure-head  of  his  vessel  ?  He  lost  no  time  in  sending  messengers 
to  all  the  cities,  and  making  known  to  the  whole  people  of  Greece, 
that  Prince  Jason,  the  son  of  King  vEson,  was  going  in  quest  of 
the  Fleece  of  Gold,  and  that  he  desired  the  help  of  forty-nine  of 
the  bravest  and  strongest  young  men  alive,  to  row  his  vessel  and 
share  his  dangers.  And  Jason  himself  would  be  the  fiftieth. 

At  this  news,  the  adventurous  youths,  all  over  the  country,  began 
to  bestir  themselves.  Some  of  them  had  already  fought  with  giants 
and  slain  dragons  ;  and  the  younger  ones,  who  had  not  yet  met 
with  such  good  fortune,  thought  it  a  shame  to  have  lived  so  long 
without  getting  astride  of  a  flying  serpent,  or  sticking  their  spears 
into  a  Chimaera,  or,  at  least,  thrusting  their  right  arms  down  a  mon 
strous  lion's  throat.  There  was  a  fair  prospect  that  they  would 
meet  with  plenty  of  such  adventures  before  finding  the  Golden 
Fleece.  As  soon  as  they  could  furbish  up  their  helmets  and  shields, 
therefore,  and  gird  on  their  trusty  swords,  they  came  thronging  to 
lolchos,  and  clambered  on  board  the  new  galley.  Shaking  hands 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  169 

with  Jason,  they  assured  him  that  they  did  not  care  a  pin  for  their 
lives,  but  would  help  row  the  vessel  to  the  remotest  edge  of  the 
world,  and  as  much  farther  as  he  might  think  it  best  to  go. 

Many  of  these  brave  fellows  had  been  educated  by  Chiron,  the 
four-footed  pedagogue,  and  were  therefore  old  schoolmates  of  Jason, 
and  knew  him  to  be  a  lad  of  spirit.  The  mighty  Hercules,  whose 
shoulders  afterwards  held  up  the  sky,  was  one  of  them.  And  there 
were  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  twin  brothers,  who  were  never  accused 
of  being  chicken-hearted,  although  they  had  been  hatched  out  of 
an  egg ;  and  Theseus,  who  was  so  renowned  for  killing  the  Mino 
taur  ;  and  Lynceus,  with  his  wonderfully  sharp  eyes,  which  could 
see  through  a  millstone,  or  look  right  down  into  the  depths  of  the 
earth,  and  discover  the  treasures  that  were  there  ;  and  Orpheus,  the 
very  best  of  harpers,  who  sang  and  played  upon  his  lyre  so  sweetly, 
that  the  brute  beasts  stood  upon  their  hind  legs,  and  capered  mer 
rily  to  the  music.  Yes,  and  at  some  of  his  more  moving  tunes,  the 
rocks  bestirred  their  moss-grown  bulk  out  of  the  ground,  and  a 
grove  of  forest  trees  uprooted  themselves,  and,  nodding  their  tops 
to  one  another,  performed  a  country  dance. 

One  of  the  rowers  was  a  beautiful  young  woman,  named  Ata- 
lanta,  who  had  been  nursed  among  the  mountains  by  a  bear.  So 
light  of  foot  was  this  fair  damsel  that  she  could  step  from  one 
foamy  crest  of  a  wave  to  the  foamy  crest  of  another,  without  wet 
ting  more  than  the  sole  of  her  sandal.  She  had  grown  up  in  a  very 
wild  way,  and  talked  much  about  the  rights  of  women,  and  loved 
hunting  and  war  far  better  than  her  needle.  But,  in  my  opinion, 
the  most  remarkable  of  this  famous  company  were  two  sons  of  the 
North  Wind  (airy  youngsters,  and  of  rather  a  blustering  disposi 
tion),  who  had  wings  on  their  shoulders,  and,  in  case  of  a  calm, 
could  puff  out  their  cheeks,  and  blow  almost  as  fresh  a  breeze  as 
their  father.  I  ought  not  to  forget  the  prophets  and  conjurers,  of 
whom  there  were  several  in  the  crew,  and  who  could  foretell  what 
would  happen  to-morrow,  or  the  next  day,  or  a  hundred  years  hence, 
but  were  generally  quite  unconscious  of  what  was  passing  at  the 
moment. 

Jason  appointed  Tiphys  to  be  helmsman,  because  he  was  a  star- 
gazer,  and  knew  the  points  of  the  compass.  Lynceus,  on  account 
of  his  sharp  sight,  was  stationed  as  a  lookout  in  the  prow,  where  he 


170  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

saw  a  whole  day's  sail  ahead,  but  was  rather  apt  to  overlook  things 
that  lay  directly  under  his  nose.  If  the  sea  only  happened  to  be 
deep  enough,  however,  Lynceus  could  tell  you  exactly  what  kind  of 
rocks  or  sands  were  at  the  bottom  of  it ;  and  he  often  cried  out  to 
his  companions,  that  they  were  sailing  over  heaps  of  sunken  treas 
ure,  which  yet  he  was  none  the  richer  for  beholding.  To  confess 
the  truth,  few  people  believed  him  when  he  said  it. 

Well !  But  when  the  Argonauts,  as  these  fifty  brave  adventur 
ers  were  called,  had  prepared  everything  for  the  voyage,  an  unfore 
seen  difficulty  threatened  to  end  it  before  it  was  begun.  The  ves 
sel,  you  must  understand,  was  so  long,  and  broad,  and  ponderous, 
that  the  united  force  of  all  the  fifty  was  insufficient  to  shove  her 
into  the  water.  Hercules,  I  suppose,  had  not  grown  to  his  full 
strength,  else  he  might  have  set  her  afloat  as  easily  as  a  little  boy 
launches  his  boat  upon  a  puddle.  But  here  were  these  fifty  heroes 
pushing,  and  straining,  and  growing  red  in  the  face,  without  mak 
ing  the  Argo  start  an  inch.  At  last,  quite  wearied  out,  they  sat 
themselves  down  on  the  shore,  exceedingly  disconsolate,  and  think 
ing  that  the  vessel  must  be  left  to  rot  and  fall  in  pieces,  and  that 
they  must  either  swim  across  the  sea  or  lose  the  Golden  Fleece. 

All  at  once,  Jason  bethought  himself  of  the  galley's  miraculous 
figure-head. 

"  0  daughter  of  the  Talking  Oak,"  cried  he,  "  how  shall  we  set 
to  work  to  get  our  vessel  into  the  water  ?  " 

"  Seat  yourselves,"  answered  the  image  (for  it  had  known  what 
ought  to  be  done  from  the  very  first,  and  was  only  waiting  for  the 
question  to  be  put),  —  "  seat  yourselves,  and  handle  your  oars,  and 
let  Orpheus  play  upon  his  harp." 

Immediately  the  fifty  heroes  got  on  board,  and  seizing  their  oars, 
held  them  perpendicularly  in  the  air,  while  Orpheus  (who  liked 
such  a  task  far  better  than  rowing)  swept  his  fingers  across  the  harp. 
At  the  first  ringing  note  of  the  music,  they  felt  the  vessel  stir. 
Orpheus  thrummed  away  briskly,  and  the  galley  slid  at  once  into 
the  sea,  dipping  her  prow  so  deeply  that  the  figure-head  drank  the 
wave  with  its  marvellous  lips,  and  rose  again  as  buoyant  as  a  swan. 
The  rowers  plied  their  fifty  oars ;  the  white  foam  boiled  up  before 
the  prow ;  the  water  gurgled  and  bubbled  in  their  wake  ;  while 
Orpheus  continued  to  play  so  lively  a  strain  of  music,  that  the  ves- 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  171 

sel  seemed  to  dance  over  the  billows  by  way  of  keeping  time  to  it. 
Thus  triumphantly  did  the  Argo  sail  out  of  the  harbor,  amidst  the 
huzzas  and  good  wishes  of  everybody  except  the  wicked  old  Pelias, 
who  stood  on  a  promontory,  scowling  at  her,  and  wishing  that  he 
could  blow  out  of  his  lungs  the  tempest  of  wrath  that  was  in  his 
heart,  and  so  sink  the  galley  with  all  on  board.  When  they  had 
sailed  above  fifty  miles  over  the  sea,  Lynceus  happened  to  cast  his 
sharp  eyes  behind,  and  said  that  there  was  this  bad-hearted  king, 
still  perched  upon  the  promontory,  and  scowling  so  gloomily  that 
it  looked  like  a  black  thunder-cloud  in  that  quarter  of  the  horizon. 

In  order  to  make  the  time  pass  away  more  pleasantly  during  the 
voyage,  the  heroes  talked  about  the  Golden  Fleece.  It  originally 
belonged,  it  appears,  to  a  Bosotian  ram,  who  had  taken  on  his  back 
two  children,  when  in  danger  of  their  lives,  and  fled  with  them  over 
land  and  sea,  as  far  as  Colchis.  One  of  the  children,  whose  name 
was  Helle,  fell  into  the  sea  and  was  drowned.  But  the  other  (a 
little  boy,  named  Phrixus)  was  brought  safe  ashore  by  the  faithful 
ram,  who,  however,  was  so  exhausted  that  he  immediately  lay  down 
and  died.  In  memory  of  this  good  deed,  and  as  a  token  of  his  true 
heart,  the  fleece  of  the  poor  dead  ram  was  miraculously  changed  to 
gold,  and  became  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  ever  seen  on 
earth.  It  was  hung  upon  a  tree  in  a  sacred  grove,  where  it  had 
now  been  kept  I  know  not  how  many  years,  and  was  the  envy 
of  mighty  kings  who  had  nothing  so  magnificent  in  any  of  their 
palaces. 

If  I  were  to  tell  you  all  the  adventures  of  the  Argonauts,  it 
would  take  me  till  nightfall,  and  perhaps  a  great  deal  longer. 
There  was  no  lack  of  wonderful  events,  as  you  may  judge  from 
what  you  have  already  heard.  At  a  certain  island  they  were  hos 
pitably  received  by  King  Cyzicus,  its  sovereign,  who  made  a  feast 
for  them,  and  treated  them  like  brothers.  But  the  Argonauts  saw 
that  this  good  king  looked  downcast  and  very  much  troubled,  and 
they  therefore  inquired  of  him  what  was  the  matter.  King  Cyzi 
cus  hereupon  informed  them  that  he  and  his  subjects  were  greatly 
abused  and  incommoded  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  neighboring  moun 
tain,  who  made  war  upon  them,  and  killed  many  people,  and  rav 
aged  the  country.  And  while  they  were  talking  about  it,  Cyzicus 
pointed  to  the  mountain,  and  asked  Jason  and  his  companions  what 
they  saw  there. 


172  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

"  I  see  some  very  tall  objects,"  answered  Jason  ;  "  but  they  are 
at  such  a  distance  that  I  cannot  distinctly  make  out  what  they  are. 
To  tell  your  Majesty  the  truth,  they  look  so  very  strangely  that  I 
am  inclined  to  think  them  clouds,  which  have  chanced  to  take  some 
thing  like  human  shapes." 

"  I  see  them  very  plainly,"  remarked  Lynceus,  whose  eyes,  you 
know,  were  as  far-sighted  as  a  telescope.  "  They  are  a  band  of 
enormous  giants,  all  of  whom  have  six  arms  apiece,  and  a  club,  a 
sword,  or  some  other  weapon  in  each  of  their  hands." 

"  You  have  excellent  eyes,"  said  King  Cyzicus.  "  Yes  ;  they  are 
six-armed  giants,  as  you  say,  and  these  are  the  enemies  whom  I  and 
my  subjects  have  to  contend  with." 

The  next  day,  when  the  Argonauts  were  about  setting  sail,  down 
came  these  terrible  giants,  stepping  a  hundred  yards  at  a  stride, 
brandishing  their  six  arms  apiece,  and  looking  very  formidable,  so 
far  aloft  in  the  air.  Each  of  these  monsters  was  able  to  carry  on  a 
whole  war  by  himself,  for  with  one  of  his  arms  he  could  fling  im 
mense  stones,  and  wield  a  club  with  another,  and  a  sword  with  a 
third,  while  the  fourth  was  poking  a  long  spear  at  the  enemy,  and 
the  fifth  and  sixth  were  shooting  him  with  a  bow  and  arrow.  But, 
luckily,  though  the  giants  were  so  huge,  and  had  so  many  arms, 
they  had  each  but  one  heart,  and  that  no  bigger  nor  braver  than 
the  heart  of  an  ordinary  man.  Besides,  if  they  had  been  like  the 
hundred-armed  Briareus,  the  brave  Argonauts  would  have  given 
them  their  hands  full  of  fight.  Jason  and  his  friends  went  boldly 
to  meet  them,  slew  a  great  many,  and  made  the  rest  take  to  their 
heels,  so  that  if  the  giants  had  had  six  legs  apiece  instead  of  six 
arms,  it  would  have  served  them  better  to  run  away  with. 

Another  strange  adventure  happened  when  the  voyagers  came  to 
Thrace,  where  they  found  a  poor  blind  king  named  Phineus,  deserted 
by  his  subjects,  and  living  in  a  very  sorrowful  way,  all  by  him 
self.  On  Jason's  inquiring  whether  they  could  do  him  any  service, 
the  king  answered  that  he  was  terribly  tormented  by  three  great 
winged  creatures,  called  Harpies,  which  had  the  faces  of  women, 
and  the  wings,  bodies,  and  claws  of  vultures.  These  ugly  wretches 
were  in  the  habit  of  snatching  away  his  dinner,  and  allowed  him  no 
peace  of  his  life.  Upon  hearing  this,  the  Argonauts  spread  a  plen 
tiful  feast  on  the  sea-shore,  well  knowing,  from  what  the  blind  king 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  173 

said  of  their  greediness,  that  the  Harpies  would  snuff  up  the  scent 
of  the  victuals,  and  quickly  come  to  steal  them  away.  And  so  it 
turned  out ;  for,  hardly  was  the  table  set,  before  the  three  hideous 
vulture  women  came  flapping  their  wings,  seized  the  food  in  their 
talons,  and  flew  off  as  fast  as  they  could.  But  the  two  sons  of  the 
North  Wind  drew  their  swords,  spread  their  pinions,  and  set  off 
through  the  air  in  pursuit  of  the  thieves,  whom  they  at  last  over 
took  among  some  islands,  after  a  chase  of  hundreds  of  miles.  The 
two  winged  youths  blustered  terribly  at  the  Harpies  (for  they  had 
the  rough  temper  of  their  father),  and  so  frightened  them  with  their 
drawn  swords,  that  they  solemnly  promised  never  to  trouble  King 
Phineus  again. 

Then  the  Argonauts  sailed  onward,  and  met  with  many  other 
marvellous  incidents  any  one  of  which  would  make  a  story  by  itself. 
At  one  time,  they  landed  on  an  island,  and  were  reposing  on  the 
grass,  when  they  suddenly  found  themselves  assailed  by  what 
seemed  a  shower  of  steel-headed  arrows.  Some  of  them  stuck  in 
the  ground,  while  others  hit  against  their  shields,  and  several  pen 
etrated  their  flesh.  The  fifty  heroes  started  up,  and  looked  about 
them  for  the  hidden  enemy,  but  could  find  none,  nor  see  any  spot, 
on  the  whole  island,  where  even  a  single  archer  could  lie  concealed. 
Still,  however,  the  steel-headed  arrows  came  whizzing  among  them ; 
and,  at  last,  happening  to  look  upward,  they  beheld  a  large  flock 
of  birds,  hovering  and  wheeling  aloft,  and  shooting  their  feathers 
down  upon  the  Argonauts.  These  feathers  were  the  steel-headed 
arrows  that  had  so  tormented  them.  There  was  no  possibility  of 
making  any  resistance  ;  and  the  fifty  heroic  Argonauts  might  all 
have  been  killed  or  wounded  by  a  flock  of  troublesome  birds,  with 
out  ever  setting  eyes  on  the  Golden  Fleece,  if  Jason  had  not 
thought  of  asking  the  advice  of  the  oaken  image. 

So  he  ran  to  the  galley  as  fast  as  his  legs  would  carry  him. 

"  0  daughter  of  the  Speaking  Oak,"  cried  he,  all  out  of  breath, 
"  we  need  your  wisdom  more  than  ever  before  !  We  are  in  great 
peril  from  a  flock  of  birds,  who  are  shooting  us  with  their  steel- 
pointed  feathers.  What  can  we  do  to  drive  them  away  ?  " 

"  Make  a  clatter  on  your  shields,"  said  the  image. 

On  receiving  this  excellent  counsel,  Jason  hurried  back  to  his 
companions  (who  were  far  more  dismayed  than  when  they  fought 


174  THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

with  the  six-armed  giants),  and  bade  them  strike  with  their  swords 
upon  their  brazen  shields.  Forthwith  the  fifty  heroes  set  heartily 
to  work,  banging  with  might  and  main,  and  raised  such  a  terrible 
clatter  that  the  birds  made  what  haste  they  could  to  get  away ;  and 
though  they  had  shot  half  the  feathers  out  of  their  wings,  they 
were  soon  seen  skimming  among  the  clouds,  a  long  distance  off, 
and  looking  like  a  flock  of  wild  geese.  Orpheus  celebrated  this  vic 
tory  by  playing  a  triumphant  anthem  on  his  harp,  and  sang  so  me 
lodiously  that  Jason  begged  him  to  desist,  lest,  as  the  steel-feathered 
birds  had  been  driven  away  by  an  ugly  sound,  they  might  be  enticed 
back  again  by  a  sweet  one. 

While  the  Argonauts  remained  on  this  island,  they  saw  a  small 
vessel  approaching  the  shore,  in  which  were  two  young  men  of 
princely  demeanor,  and  exceedingly  handsome,  as  young  princes  gen 
erally  were  in  those  days.  Now,  who  do  you  imagine  these  two 
voyagers  turned  out  to  be  ?  Why,  if  you  will  believe  me,  they  were 
the  sons  of  that  very  Phrixus,  who,  in  his  childhood,  had  been  car 
ried  to  Colchis  on  the  back  of  the  golden-fleeced  ram.  Since  that 
time,  Phrixus  had  married  the  king's  daughter  ;  and  the  two  young 
princes  had  been  born  and  brought  up  at  Colchis,  and  had  spent 
their  play-days  in  the  outskirts  of  the  grove,  in  the  centre  of  which 
the  Golden  Fleece  was  hanging  upon  a  tree.  They  were  now  on 
their  way  to  Greece,  in  hopes  of  getting  back  a  kingdom  that  had 
been  wrongfully  taken  from  their  father. 

When  the  princes  understood  whither  the  Argonauts  were  going, 
they  offered  to  turn  back  and  guide  them  to  Colchis.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  they  spoke  as  if  it  were  very  doubtful  whether  Jason 
would  succeed  in  getting  the  Golden  Fleece.  According  to  their 
account,  the  tree  on  which  it  hung  was  guarded  by  a  terrible  dra 
gon,  who  never  failed  to  devour,  at  one  mouthful,  every  person 
who  might  venture  within  his  reach. 

"  There  are  other  difficulties  in  the  way,"  continued  the  young 
princes.  "  But  is  not  this  enough  ?  Ah,  brave  Jason,  turn  back 
before  it  is  too  late.  It  would  grieve  us  to  the  heart,  if  you  and 
your  nine-and-forty  brave  companions  should  be  eaten  up,  at  fifty 
mouthfuls,  by  this  execrable  dragon." 

"  My  young  friends,"  quietly  replied  Jason,  "  I  do  not  wonder 
that  you  think  the  dragon  very  terrible.  You  have  grown  up  from 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  175 

infancy  in  the  fear  of  this  monster,  and  therefore  still  regard  him 
with  the  awe  that  children  feel  for  the  bugbears  and  hobgoblins 
which  their  nurses  have  talked  to  them  about.  But,  in  my  view  of 
the  matter,  the  dragon  is  merely  a  pretty  large  serpent,  who  is  not 
half  so  likely  to  snap  me  up  at  one  mouthful  as  I  am  to  cut  off  his 
ugly  head,  and  strip  the  skin  from  his  body.  At  all  events,  turn 
back  who  may,  I  will  never  see  Greece  again  unless  I  carry  with  me 
the  Golden  Fleece." 

"  We  will  none  of  us  turn  back  !  "  cried  his  nine-and-forty  brave 
comrades.  "  Let  us  get  on  board  the  galley  this  instant ;  and  if  the 
dragon  is  to  make  a  breakfast  of  us,  much  good  may  it  do  him." 

And  Orpheus  (whose  custom  it  was  to  set  everything  to  music) 
began  to  harp  and  sing  most  gloriously,  and  made  every  mother's 
son  of  them  feel  as  if  nothing  in  this  world  were  so  delectable  as  to 
fight  dragons,  and  nothing  so  truly  honorable  as  to  be  eaten  up  at 
one  mouthful,  in  case  of  the  worst. 

After  this  (being  now  under  the  guidance  of  the  two  princes, 
who  were  well  acquainted  with  the  way),  they  quickly  sailed  to 
Colchis.  When  the  king  of  the  country,  whose  name  was  ^Eetes, 
heard  of  their  arrival,  he  instantly  summoned  Jason  to  court.  The 
king  was  a  stern  and  cruel-looking  potentate ;  and  though  he  put 
on  as  polite  and  hospitable  an  expression  as  he  could,  Jason  did  not 
like  his  face  a  whit  better  than  that  of  the  wicked  King  Pelias,  who 
dethroned  his  father. 

"  You  are  welcome,  brave  Jason,"  said  King  ^Eetes.  "  Pray,  are 
you  on  a  pleasure  voyage  ?  —  or  do  you  meditate  the  discovery  of 
unknown  islands  ?  —  or  what  other  cause  has  procured  me  the  hap 
piness  of  seeing  you  at  my  court  ?  " 

"Great  sir,"  replied  Jason,  with  an  obeisance,  —  for  Chiron  had 
taught  him  how  to  behave  with  propriety,  whether  to  kings  or  beg 
gars,  —  "I  have  come  hither  with  a  purpose  which  I  now  beg  your 
Majesty's  permission  to  execute.  King  Pelias,  who  sits  on  my 
father's  throne  (to  which  he  has  no  more  right  than  to  the  one  on 
which  your  excellent  Majesty  is  now  seated),  has  engaged  to  come 
down  from  it,  and  to  give  me  his  crown  and  sceptre,  provided  I 
bring  him  the  Golden  Fleece.  This,  as  your  Majesty  is  aware,  is 
now  hanging  on  a  tree  here  at  Colchis ;  and  I  humbly  solicit  your 
gracious  leave  to  take  it  away." 


176  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

In  spite  of  himself,  the  king's  face  twisted  itself  into  an  angry 
frown  ;  for,  above  all  things  else  in  the  world,  he  prized  the  Golden 
Fleece,  and  was  even  suspected  of  having  done  a  very  wicked  act,  in 
order  to  get  it  into  his  own  possession.  It  put  him  into  the  worst 
possible  humor,  therefore,  to  hear  that  the  gallant  Prince  Jason, 
and  forty-nine  of  the  bravest  young  warriors  of  Greece,  had  come 
to  Colchis  with  the  sole  purpose  of  taking  away  his  chief  treasure. 

"  Do  you  know,"  asked  King  JEetes,  eying  Jason  very  sternly, 
"  what  are  the  conditions  which  you  must  fulfil  before  getting 
possession  of  the  Golden  Fleece  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard,"  rejoined  the  youth,  "  that  a  dragon  lies  beneath 
the  tree  on  which  the  prize  hangs,  and  that  whoever  approaches  him 
runs  the  risk  of  being  devoured  at  a  mouthful." 

"  True,"  said  the  king,  with  a  smile  that  did  not  look  particularly 
good-natured.  "  Very  true,  young  man.  But  there  are  other  things 
as  hard,  or  perhaps  a  little  harder,  to  be  done,  before  you  can  even 
have  the  privilege  of  being  devoured  by  the  dragon.  For  example, 
you  must  first  tame  my  two  brazen-footed  and  brazen-lunged  bulls, 
which  Vulcan,  the  wonderful  blacksmith,  made  for  me.  There  is  a 
furnace  in  each  of  their  stomachs  ;  and  they  breathe  such  hot  fire 
out  of  their  mouths  and  nostrils,  that  nobody  has  hitherto  gone 
nigh  them  without  being  instantly  burned  to  a  small,  black  cinder. 
What  do  you  think  of  this,  my  brave  Jason  ?  " 

"  I  must  encounter  the  peril,"  answered  Jason,  composedly, 
"  since  it  stands  in  the  way  of  my  purpose." 

"  After  taming  the  fiery  bulls,"  continued  King  ^Eetes,  who  was 
determined  to  scare  Jason  if  possible,  "  you  must  yoke  them  to  a 
plough,  and  must  plough  the  sacred  earth  in  the  grove  of  Mars, 
and  sow  some  of  the  same  dragon's  teeth  from  which  Cadmus  raised 
a  crop  of  armed  men.  They  are  an  unruly  set  of  reprobates,  those 
sons  of  the  dragon's  teeth ;  and  unless  you  treat  them  suitably,  they 
will  fall  upon  you  sword  in  hand.  You  and  your  nine-and-forty 
Argonauts,  my  bold  Jason,  are  hardly  numerous  or  strong  enough 
to  fight  with  such  a  host  as  will  spring  up." 

"  My  master  Chiron,"  replied  Jason,  "  taught  me,  long  ago,  the 
story  of  Cadmus.  Perhaps  I  can  manage  the  quarrelsome  sons  of 
the  dragon's  teeth  as  well  as  Cadmus  did." 

"  I  wish  the  dragon  had  him,"  muttered  King  Metes  to  himself, 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  177 

"  and  the  four-footed  pedant,  his  schoolmaster,  into  the  bargain. 
Why,  what  a  foolhardy,  self-conceited  coxcomb  he  is  !  We  '11  see 
what  my  fire-breathing  bulls  will  do  for  him.  Well,  Prince  Jason," 
he  continued,  aloud,  and  as  complaisantly  as  he  could,  "make  your 
self  comfortable  for  to-day,  and  to-morrow  morning,  since  you  insist 
upon  it,  you  shall  try  your  skill  at  the  plough." 

While  the  king  talked  with  Jason,  a  beautiful  young  woman  was 
standing  behind  the  throne.  She  fixed  her  eyes  earnestly  upon  the 
youthful  stranger,  and  listened  attentively  to  every  word  that  was 
spoken  ;  and  when  Jason  withdrew  from  the  king's  presence,  this 
young  woman  followed  him  out  of  the  room. 

"  I  am  the  king's  daughter,"  she  said  to  him,  "  and  my  name  is 
Medea.  I  know  a  great  deal  of  which  other  young  princesses  are 
ignorant,  and  can  do  many  things  which  they  would  be  afraid  so 
much  as  to  dream  of.  If  you  will  trust  to  me,  I  can  instruct  you 
how  to  tame  the  fiery  bulls,  and  sow  the  dragon's  teeth,  and  get  the 
Golden  Fleece." 

"  Indeed,  beautiful  princess,"  answered  Jason,  "  if  you  will  do 
me  this  service,  I  promise  to  be  grateful  to  you  my  whole  life 
long." 

Gazing  at  Medea,  he  beheld  a  wonderful  intelligence  in  her  face. 
She  was  one  of  those  persons  whose  eyes  are  full  of  mystery  ;  so 
that,  while  looking  into  them,  you  seem  to  see  a  very  great  way,  as 
into  a  deep  well,  yet  can  never  be  certain  whether  you  see  into  the 
farthest  depths,  or  whether  there  be  not  something  else  hidden  at 
the  bottom.  If  Jason  had  been  capable  of  fearing  anything,  he 
would  have  been  afraid  of  making  this  young  princess  his  enemy ; 
for,  beautiful  as  she  now  looked,  she  might,  the  very  next  instant, 
become  as  terrible  as  the  dragon  that  kept  watch  over  the  Golden 
Fleece. 

"  Princess,"  he  exclaimed,  "  you  seem  indeed  very  wise  and  very 
powerful.  But  how  can  you  help  me  to  do  the  things  of  which  you 
speak  ?  Are  you  an  enchantress  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Prince  Jason,"  answered  Medea,  with  a  smile,  "  you  have 
hit  upon  the  truth.  I  am  an  enchantress.  Circe,  my  father's  sis 
ter,  taught  me  to  be  one,  and  I  could  tell  you,  if  I  pleased,  who 
was  the  old  woman  with  the  peacock,  the  pomegranate,  and  the 
cuckoo  staff,  whom  you  carried  over  the  river ;  and,  likewise,  who 


178  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

it  is  that  speaks  through  the  lips  of  the  oaken  image,  that  stands  in 
the  prow  of  your  galley.  I  am  acquainted  with  some  of  your  se 
crets,  you  perceive.  It  is  well  for  you  that  I  am  favorably  inclined ; 
for,  otherwise,  you  would  hardly  escape  being  snapped  up  by  the 
dragon." 

"  I  should  not  so  much  care  for  the  dragon,"  replied  Jason,  "  if 
I  only  knew  how  to  manage  the  brazen-footed  and  fiery-lunged 
bulls." 

"  If  you  are  as  brave  as  I  think  you,  and  as  you  have  need  to 
be,"  said  Medea,  "  your  own  bold  heart  will  teach  you  that  there  is 
but  one  way  of  dealing  with  a  mad  bull.  What  it  is  I  leave  you 
to  find  out  in  the  moment  of  peril.  As  for  the  fiery  breath  of  these 
animals,  I  have  a  charmed  ointment  here,  which  will  prevent  you 
from  being  burned  up,  and  cure  you  if  you  chance  to  be  a  little 
scorched." 

So  she  put  a  golden  box  into  his  hand,  and  directed  him  how  to 
apply  the  perfumed  unguent  which  it  contained,  and  where  to  meet 
her  at  midnight. 

"Only  be  brave,"  added  she,  "and  before  daybreak  the  brazen 
bulls  shall  be  tamed." 

The  young  man  assured  her  that  his  heart  would  not  fail  him. 
He  then  rejoined  his  comrades,  and  told  them  what  had  passed  be 
tween  the  princess  and  himself,  and  warned  them  to  be  in  readiness 
in  case  there  might  be  need  of  their  help. 

At  the  appointed  hour  he  met  the  beautiful  Medea  on  the  marble 
steps  of  the  king's  palace.  She  gave  him  a  basket,  in  which  were 
the  dragon's  teeth,  just  as  they  had  been  pulled  out  of  the  mon 
ster's  jaws  by  Cadmus,  long  ago.  Medea  then  led  Jason  down  the 
palace  steps,  and  through  the  silent  streets  of  the  city,  and  into  the 
royal  pasture-ground,  where  the  two  brazen-footed  bulls  were  kept. 
It  was  a  starry  night,  with  a  bright  gleam  along  the  eastern  edge 
of  the  sky,  where  the  moon  was  soon  going  to  show  herself.  After 
entering  the  pasture,  the  princess  paused  and  looked  around. 

"  There  they  are."  said  she,  "  reposing  themselves  and  chewing 
their  fiery  cuds  in  that  farthest  corner  of  the  field.  It  will  be  ex 
cellent  sport,  I  assure  you,  when  they  catch  a  glimpse  of  your  fig 
ure.  My  father  and  all  his  court  delight  in  nothing  so  much  as  to 
see  a  stranger  trying  to  yoke  them,  in  order  to  come  at  the  Golden 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 


179 


Fleece.  It  makes  a  holi 
day  in  Colchis  whenever 
such  a  thing  happens. 
For  my  part,  I  enjoy  it 
immensely.  You  cannot 
imagine  in  what  a  mere 
twinkling  of  an  eye  their 
hot  breath  shrivels  a 
young  man  into  a  black 
cinder." 

"  Are  you  sure,  beau 
tiful  Medea,"  asked  Ja 
son,  "quite  sure,  that 
the  unguent  in  the  gold 
box  will  prove  a  remedy 
against  those  terrible 
burns  ?  " 

"  If  you  doubt,  if  you 
are  in  the  least  afraid," 
said  the  princess,  look 
ing  him  in  the  face  by 
the  dim  starlight,  "you 
had  better  never  have 
been  born  than  go  a 
step  nigher  to  the  bulls." 

But  Jason  had  set  his 
heart  steadfastly  on  get 
ting  the  Golden  Fleece  ; 
and  I  positively  doubt 
whether  he  would  have 
gone  back  without  it, 
even  had  he  been  certain 
of  finding  himself  turned 
into  a  red-hot  cinder,  or 
a  handful  of  white  ashes, 
the  instant  he  made  a 
step  farther.  He  there 
fore  let  go  Medea's  hand, 
and  walked  boldly  for- 


180  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

ward  in  the  direction  whither  she  had  pointed.  At  some  dis 
tance  before  him  he  perceived  four  streams  of  fiery  vapor,  regularly 
appearing,  and  again  vanishing,  after  dimly  lighting  up  the  sur 
rounding  obscurity.  These,  you  will  understand,  were  caused  by 
the  breath  of  the  brazen  bulls,  which  was  quietly  stealing  out  of 
their  four  nostrils,  as  they  lay  chewing  their  cuds. 

At  the  first  two  or  three  steps  which  Jason  made,  the  four  fiery 
streams  appeared  to  gush  out  somewhat  more  plentifully ;  for  the 
two  brazen  bulls  had  heard  his  foot-tramp,  and  were  lifting  up 
their  hot  noses  to  snuff  the  air.  He  went  a  little  farther,  and  by 
the  way  in  which  the  red  vapor  now  spouted  forth,  he  judged  that 
the  creatures  had  got  upon  their  feet.  Now  he  could  see  glowing 
sparks,  and  vivid  jets  of  flame.  At  the  next  step,  each  of  the  bulls 
made  the  pasture  echo  with  a  terrible  roar,  while  the  burning 
breath,  which  they  thus  belched  forth,  lit  up  the  whole  field  with  a 
momentary  flash.  One  other  stride  did  bold  Jason  make ;  and,  sud 
denly,  as  a  streak  of  lightning,  on  came  these  fiery  animals,  roaring 
like  thunder,  and  sending  out  sheets  of  white  flame,  which  so  kindled 
up  the  scene  that  the  young  man  could  discern  every  object  more 
distinctly  than  by  daylight.  Most  distinctly  of  all  he  saw  the  two 
horrible  creatures  galloping  right  down  upon  him,  their  brazen  hoofs 
rattling  and  ringing  over  the  ground,  and  their  tails  sticking  up 
stiffly  into  the  air,  as  has  always  been  the  fashion  with  angry  bulls. 
Their  breath  scorched  the  herbage  before  them.  So  intensely  hot  it 
was,  indeed,  that  it  caught  a  dry  tree  under  which  Jason  was  now 
standing,  and  set  it  all  in  a  light  blaze.  But  as  for  Jason  himself 
(thanks  to  Medea's  enchanted  ointment),  the  white  flame  curled 
around  his  body,  without  injuring  him  a  jot  more  than  if  he  had 
been  made  of  asbestos. 

Greatly  encouraged  at  finding  himself  not  yet  turned  into  a  cin 
der,  the  young  man  awaited  the  attack  of  the  bulls.  Just  as  the 
brazen  brutes  fancied  themselves  sure  of  tossing  him  into  the  air, 
he  caught  one  of  them  by  the  horn  and  the  other  by  his  screwed- 
up  tail,  and  held  them  in  a  gripe  like  that  of  an  iron  vice,  one  with 
his  right  hand,  and  the  other  with  his  left.  Well,  he  must  have 
been  wonderfully  strong  in  his  arms,  to  be  sure.  But  the  secret  of 
the  matter  was,  that  the  brazen  bulls  were  enchanted  creatures,  and 
that  Jason  had  broken  the  spell  of  their  fiery  fierceness  by  his  bold 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  181 

way  of  handling  them.  And,  ever  since  that  time,  it  has  been  the 
favorite  method  of  brave  men,  when  danger  assails  them,  to  do 
what  they  call  "  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns  ;  "  and  to  gripe  him 
by  the  tail  is  pretty  much  the  same  thing,  —  that  is,  to  throw  aside 
fear,  and  overcome  the  peril  by  despising  it. 

It  was  now  easy  to  yoke  the  bulls,  and  to  harness  them  to  the 
plough,  which  had  lain  rusting  on  the  ground  for  a  great  many 
years  gone  by  ;  so  long  was  it  before  anybody  could  be  found  capa 
ble  of  ploughing  that  piece  of  land.  Jason,  I  suppose,  had  been 
taught  how  to  draw  a  furrow  by  the  good  old  Chiron,  who,  perhaps, 
used  to  allow  himself  to  be  harnessed  to  the  plough.  At  any  rate, 
our  hero  succeeded  perfectly  well  in  breaking  up  the  greensward  ; 
and,  by  the  time  that  the  moon  was  a  quarter  of  her  journey  up  the 
sky,  the  ploughed  field  lay  before  him,  a  large  tract  of  black  earth, 
ready  to  be  sown  with  the  dragon's  teeth.  So  Jason  scattered  them 
broadcast,  and  harrowed  them  into  the  soil  with  a  brush-harrow  and 
took  his  stand  on  the  edge  of  the  field,  anxious  to  see  what  would 
happen  next. 

"  Must  we  wait  long  for  harvest-time  ?  "  he  inquired  of  Medea, 
who  was  now  standing  by  his  side. 

"  Whether  sooner  or  later,  it  will  be  sure  to  come,"  answered  the 
princess.  "  A  crop  of  armed  men  never  fails  to  spring  up,  when 
the  dragon's  teeth  have  been  sown." 

The  moon  was  now  high  aloft  in  the  heavens,  and  threw  its 
bright  beams  over  the  ploughed  field,  where  as  yet  there  was  noth 
ing  to  be  seen.  Any  farmer,  on  viewing  it,  would  have  said  that 
Jason  must  wait  weeks  before  the  green  blades  would  peep  from 
among  the  clods,  and  whole  months  before  the  yellow  grain  would 
be  ripened  for  the  sickle.  But  by  and  by,  all  over  the  field,  there 
was  something  that  glistened  in  the  moonbeams,  like  sparkling 
drops  of  dew.  These  bright  objects  sprouted  higher,  and  proved 
to  be  the  steel  heads  of  spears.  Then  there  was  a  dazzling  gleam 
from  a  vast  number  of  polished  brass  helmets,  beneath  which,  as 
they  grew  farther  out  of  the  soil,  appeared  the  dark  and  bearded 
visages  of  warriors,  struggling  to  free  themselves  from  the  impris 
oning  earth.  The  first  look  that  they  gave  at  the  upper  world  was 
a  glare  of  wrath  and  defiance.  Next  were  seen  their  bright  breast 
plates;  in  every  right  hand  there  was  a  sword  or  a  spear,  and  on 


182  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

each  left  arm  a  shield  ;  and  when  this  strange  crop  of  warriors  had 
but  half  grown  out  of  the  earth,  they  struggled,  —  such  was  their 
impatience  of  restraint,  —  and,  as  it  were,  tore  themselves  up  by 
the  roots.  Wherever  a  dragon's  tooth  had  fallen  there  stood  a 
man  armed  for  battle.  They  made  a  clangor  with  their  swords 
against  their  shields  and  eyed  one  another  fiercely  ;  for  they  had 
come  into  this  beautiful  world,  and  into  the  peaceful  moonlight,  full 
of  rage  and  stormy  passions,  and  ready  to  take  the  life  of  every 
human  brother,  in  recompense  of  the  boon  of  their  own  existence. 

There  have  been  many  other  armies  in  the  world  that  seemed  to 
possess  the  same  fierce  nature  with  the  one  which  had  now  sprouted 
from  the  dragon's  teeth  ;  but  these,  in  the  moonlit  field,  were  the 
more  excusable,  because  they  never  had  women  for  their  mothers. 
And  how  it  would  have  rejoiced  any  great  captain,  who  was  bent 
on  conquering  the  world,  like  Alexander  or  Napoleon,  to  raise  a 
crop  of  armed  soldiers  as  easily  as  Jason  did  ! 

For  a  while,  the  warriors  stood  flourishing  their  weapons,  clashing 
their  swords  against  their  shields,  and  boiling  over  with  the  red-hot 
thirst  for  battle.  Then  they  began  to  shout,  "  Show  us  the  enemy  ! 
Lead  us  to  the  charge  !  Death  or  victory  !  Come  on,  brave  com 
rades  !  Conquer  or  die !  "  and  a  hundred  other  outcries,  such  as 
men  always  bellow  forth  on  a  battle-field,  and  which  these  dragon 
people  seemed  to  have  at  their  tongues'  ends.  At  last,  the  front 
rank  caught  sight  of  Jason,  who,  beholding  the  flash  of  so  many 
weapons  in  the  moonlight,  had  thought  it  best  to  draw  his  sword. 
In  a  moment  all  the  sons  of  the  dragon's  teeth  appeared  to  take 
Jason  for  an  enemy  ;  and  crying  with  one  voice,  "  Guard  the  Golden 
Fleece !  "  they  ran  at  him  with  uplifted  swords  and  protruded 
spears.  Jason  knew  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  withstand  this 
bloodthirsty  battalion  with  his  single  arm,  but  determined,  since 
there  was  nothing  better  to  be  done,  to  die  as  valiantly  as  if  he 
himself  had  sprung  from  a  dragon's  tooth. 

Medea,  however,  bade  him  snatch  up  a  stone  from  the  ground. 

"  Throw  it  among  them  quickly  !  "  cried  she.  "  It  is  the  only 
way  to  save  yourself." 

The  armed  men  were  now  so  nigh  that  Jason  could  discern  the 
fire  flashing  out  of  their  enraged  eyes,  when  he  let  fly  the  stone, 
and  saw  it  strike  the  helmet  of  a  tall  warrior,  who  was  rushing  upon 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  183 

him  with  his  blade  aloft.  The  stone  glanced  from  this  man's  hel 
met  to  the  shield  of  his  nearest  comrade,  and  thence  flew  right  into 
the  angry  face  of  another,  hitting  him  smartly  between  the  eyes. 
Each  of  the  three  who  had  been  struck  by  the  stone  took  it  for 
granted  that  his  next  neighbor  had  given  him  a  blow ;  and  instead 
of  running  any  farther  towards  Jason,  they  began  a  fight  among 
themselves.  The  confusion  spread  through  the  host,  so  that  it 
seemed  scarcely  a  moment  before  they  were  all  hacking,  hewing, 
and  stabbing  at  one  another,  lopping  off  arms,  heads,  and  legs,  and 
doing  such  memorable  deeds  that  Jason  was  filled  with  immense 
admiration  ;  although,  at  the  same  time,  he  could  not  help  laughing 
to  behold  these  mighty  men  punishing  each  other  for  an  offence 
which  he  himself  had  committed.  In  an  incredibly  short  space  of 
time  (almost  as  short,  indeed,  as  it  had  taken  them  to  grow  up),  all 
but  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  dragon's  teeth  were  stretched  lifeless 
on  the  field.  The  last  survivor,  the  bravest  and  strongest  of  the 
whole,  had  just  force  enough  to  wave  his  crimson  sword  over  his 
head,  and  give  a  shout  of  exultation,  crying,  "  Victory  !  Victory  ! 
Immortal  fame ! "  when  he  himself  fell  down,  and  lay  quietly 
among  his  slain  brethren. 

And  there  was  the  end  of  the  army  that  had  sprouted  from  the 
dragon's  teeth.  That  fierce  and  feverish  fight  was  the  only  enjoy 
ment  which  they  had  tasted  on  this  beautiful  earth. 

"  Let  them  sleep  in  the  bed  of  honor,"  said  the  Princess  Medea, 
with  a  sly  smile  at  Jason.  "  The  world  will  always  have  simple 
tons  enough,  just  like  them,  fighting  and  dying  for  they  know  not 
what,  and  fancying  that  posterity  will  take  the  trouble  to  put  laurel 
wreaths  on  their  rusty  and  battered  helmets.  Could  you  help  smil 
ing,  Prince  Jason,  to  see  the  self-conceit  of  that  last  fellow,  just  as 
he  tumbled  down  ?  " 

"  It  made  me  very  sad,"  answered  Jason,  gravely.  "And,  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  princess,  the  Golden  Fleece  does  not  appear  so  well 
worth  the  winning,  after  what  I  have  here  beheld." 

"  You  will  think  differently  in  the  morning,"  said  Medea.  "  True, 
the  Golden  Fleece  may  not  be  so  valuable  as  you  have  thought  it ; 
but  then  there  is  nothing  better  in  the  world ;  and  one  must  needs 
have  an  object,  you  know.  Come !  Your  night's  work  has  been 
well  performed ;  and  to-morrow  you  can  inform  King  ^Eetes  that 
the  first  part  of  your  alloted  task  is  fulfilled." 


184  THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

Agreeably  to  Medea's  advice,  Jason  went  betimes  in  the  morning 
to  the  palace  of  King  ^Eetes.  Entering  the  presence-chamber,  he 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  made  a  low  obeisance. 

u  Your  eyes  look  heavy,  Prince  Jason,"  observed  the  king  ;  "  you 
appear  to  have  spent  a  sleepless  night.  I  hope  you  have  been  con 
sidering  the  matter  a  little  more  wisely,  and  have  concluded  not  to 
get  yourself  scorched  to  a  cinder,  in  attempting  to  tame  my  brazen- 
lunged  bulls." 

"  That  is  already  accomplished,  may  it  please  your  Majesty,"  re 
plied  Jason.  "  The  bulls  have  been  tamed  and  yoked ;  the  field 
has  been  ploughed ;  the  dragon's  teeth  have  been  sown  broadcast, 
and  harrowed  into  the  soil ;  the  crop  of  armed  warriors  has  sprung 
up,  and  they  have  slain  one  another,  to  the  last  man.  And  now  I 
solicit  your  Majesty's  permission  to  encounter  the  dragon,  that  I 
may  take  down  the  Golden  Fleece  from  the  tree,  and  depart,  with 
my  nine-and-forty  comrades." 

King  vEetes  scowled,  and  looked  very  angry  and  excessively  dis 
turbed  ;  for  he  knew  that,  in  accordance  with  his  kingly  promise, 
he  ought  now  to  permit  Jason  to  win  the  fleece,  if  his  courage  and 
skill  should  enable  him  to  do  so.  But,  since  the  young  man  had 
met  with  such  good  luck  in  the  matter  of  the  brazen  bulls  and  the 
dragon's  teeth,  the.  king  feared  that  he  would  be  equally  successful 
in  slaying  the  dragon.  And  therefore,  though  he  would  gladly 
have  seen  Jason  snapped  up  at  a  mouthful,  he  was  resolved  (and  it 
was  a  very  wrong  thing  of  this  wicked  potentate)  not  to  run  any 
further  risk  of  losing  his  beloved  fleece. 

"  You  never  would  have  succeeded  in  this  business,  young  man," 
said  he,  "  if  my  undutiful  daughter  Medea  had  not  helped  you  with 
her  enchantments.  Had  you  acted  fairly,  you  would  have  been,  at 
this  instant,  a  black  cinder,  or  a  handful  of  white  ashes.  I  forbid 
you,  on  pain  of  death,  to  make  any  more  attempts  to  get  the  Golden 
Fleece.  To  speak  my  mind  plainly,  you  shall  never  set  eyes  on  so 
much  as  one  of  its  glistening  locks." 

Jason  left  the  king's  presence  in  great  sorrow  and  anger.  He 
could  think  of  nothing  better  to  be  done  than  to  summon  together 
his  forty-nine  brave  Argonauts,  march  at  once  to  the  grove  of  Mars, 
slay  the  dragon,  take  possession  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  get  on  board 
the  Argo,  and  spread  all  sail  for  lolchos.  The  success  of  the  scheme 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  185 

depended,  it  is  true,  on  the  doubtful  point  whether  all  the  fifty  he 
roes  might  not  be  snapped  up,  at  so  many  mouthfuls,  by  the  dragon. 
But,  as  Jason  was  hastening  down  the  palace  steps,  the  Princess 
Medea  called  after  him,  and  beckoned  him  to  return.  Her  black 
eyes  shone  upon  him  with  such  a  keen  intelligence,  that  he  felt  as 
if  there  were  a  serpent  peeping  out  of  them  ;  and  although  she  had 
done  him  so  much  service  only  the  night  before,  he  was  by  no  means 
very  certain  that  she  would  not  do  him  an  equally  great  mischief 
before  sunset.  These  enchantresses,  you  must  know,  are  never  to 
be  depended  upon. 

"  What  says  King  ^Eetes,  my  royal  and  upright  father  ?"  inquired 
Medea,  slightly  smiling.  "  Will  he  give  you  the  Golden  Fleece, 
without  any  further  risk  or  trouble  ?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,"  answered  Jason,  "  he  is  very  angry  with  me 
for  taming  the  brazen  bulls  and  sowing  the  dragon's  teeth.  And 
he  forbids  me  to  make  any  more  attempts,  and  positively  refuses  to 
give  up  the  Golden  Fleece,  whether  I  slay  the  dragon  or  no." 

"  Yes,  Jason,"  said  the  princess,  "  and  I  can  tell  you  more.  Un 
less  you  set  sail  from  Colchis  before  to-morrow's  sunrise,  the  king 
means  to  burn  your  fifty-oared  galley,  and  put  yourself  and  your 
forty-nine  brave  comrades  to  the  sword.  But  be  of  good  courage. 
The  Golden  Fleece  you  shall  have,  if  it  lies  within  the  power  of  my 
enchantments  to  get  it  for  you.  Wait  for  me  here  an  hour  before 
midnight." 

At  the  appointed  hour,  you  might  again  have  seen  Prince  Jason 
and  the  Princess  Medea,  side  by  side,  stealing  through  the  streets 
of  Colchis,  on  their  way  to  the  sacred  grove,  in  the  centre  of  which 
the  Golden  Fleece  was  suspended  to  a  tree.  While  they  were  cross 
ing  the  pasture-ground,  the  brazen  bulls  came  toward  Jason,  lowing, 
nodding  their  heads,  and  thrusting  forth  their  snouts  which,  as 
other  cattle  do,  they  loved  to  have  rubbed  and  caressed  by  a  friendly 
hand.  Their  fierce  nature  was  thoroughly  tamed  ;  and,  with  their 
fierceness,  the  two  furnaces  in  their  stomachs  had  likewise  been  ex 
tinguished,  insomuch  that  they  probably  enjoyed  far  more  comfort 
in  grazing  and  chewing  their  cuds  than  ever  before.  Indeed,  it  had 
heretofore  been  a  great  inconvenience  to  these  poor  animals,  that, 
whenever  they  wished  to  eat  a  mouthful  of  grass,  the  fire  out  of 
their  nostrils  had  shrivelled  it  up,  before  they  could  manage  to  crop 


186  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

it.  How  they  contrived  to  keep  themselves  alive  is  more  than  I  can 
imagine.  But  now,  instead  of  emitting  jets  of  flame  and  streams 
of  sulphurous  vapor,  they  breathed  the  very  sweetest  of  cow  breath. 

After  kindly  patting  the  bulls,  Jason  followed  Medea's  guidance 
into  the  grove  of  Mars,  where  the  great  oak-trees,  that  had  been 
growing  for  centuries,  threw  so  thick  a  shade  that  the  moonbeams 
struggled  vainly  to  find  their  way  through  it.  Only  here  and  there 
a  glimmer  fell  upon  the  leaf-strewn  earth,  or  now  and  then  a  breeze 
stirred  the  boughs  aside,  and  gave  Jason  a  glimpse  of  the  sky,  lest 
in  that  deep  obscurity,  he  might  forget  that  there  was  one,  over 
head.  At  length,  when  they  had  gone  farther  and  farther  into  the 
heart  of  the  duskiness,  Medea  squeezed  Jason's  hand. 

"  Look  yonder,"  she  whispered.     "  Do  you  see  it  ?  " 

Gleaming  among  the  venerable  oaks,  there  was  a  radiance,  not 
like  the  moonbeams,  but  rather  resembling  the  golden  glory  of  the 
setting  sun.  It  proceeded  from  an  object,  which  appeared  to  be 
suspended  at  about  a  man's  height  from  the  ground,  a  little  farther 
within  the  wood. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Jason. 

"  Have  you  come  so  far  to  seek  it,"  exclaimed  Medea,  "  and  do 
you  not  recognize  the  meed  of  all  your  toils  and  perils,  when  it  glit 
ters  before  your  eyes  ?  It  is  the  Golden  Fleece." 

Jason  went  onward  a  few  steps  farther,  and  then  stopped  to  gaze. 
Oh,  how  beautiful  it  looked,  shining  with  a  marvellous  light  of  its 
own,  that  inestimable  prize,  which  so  many  heroes  had  longed  to 
behold,  but  had  perished  in  the  quest  of  it,  either  by  the  perils  of 
their  voyage,  or  by  the  fiery  breath  of  the  brazen-lunged  bulls. 

"  How  gloriously  it  shines  !  "  cried  Jason,  in  a  rapture.  "  It  has 
surely  been  dipped  in  the  richest  gold  of  sunset.  Let  me  hasten 
onward,  and  take  it  to  my  bosom." 

"  Stay,"  said  Medea,  holding  him  back.  "  Have  you  forgotten 
what  guards  it  ?  " 

To  say  the  truth,  in  the  joy  of  beholding  the  object  of  his  de 
sires,  the  terrible  dragon  had  quite  slipped  out  of  Jason's  memory. 
Soon,  however,  something  came  to  pass  that  reminded  him  what 
perils  were  still  to  be  encountered.  An  antelope,  that  probably  mis 
took  the  yellow  radiance  for  sunrise,  came  bounding  fleetly  through 
the  grove.  He  was  rushing  straight  towards  the  Golden  Fleece, 


JASON  TN  THE   ARGO.     P'pe  190. 


THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE.  189 

when  suddenly  there  was  a  frightful  hiss,  and  the  immense  head 
and  half  the  scaly  body  of  the  dragon  was  thrust  forth  (for  he  was 
twisted  round  the  trunk  of  the  tree  on  which  the  fleece  hung),  and 
seizing  the  poor  antelope,  swallowed  him  with  one  snap  of  his  jaws. 

After  this  feat,  the  dragon  seemed  sensible  that  some  other  living 
creature  was  within  reach  on  which  he  felt  inclined  to  finish  his 
meal.  In  various  directions  he  kept  poking  his  ugly  snout  among 
the  trees,  stretching  out  his  neck  a  terrible  long  way,  now  here,  now 
there,  and  now  close  to  the  spot  where  Jason  and  the  princess  were 
hiding  behind  an  oak.  Upon  my  word,  as  the  head  came  waving 
and  undulating  through  the  air,  and  reaching  almost  within  arm's- 
length  of  Prince  Jason,  it  was  a  very  hideous  and  uncomfortable 
sight.  The  gape  of  his  enormous  jaws  was  nearly  as  wide  as  the 
gateway  of  the  king's  palace. 

"  Well,  Jason,"  whispered  Medea  (for  she  was  ill-natured,  as  all 
enchantresses  are,  and  wanted  to  make  the  bold  youth  tremble), 
"  what  do  you  think  now  of  your  prospect  of  winning  the  Golden 
Fleece  ?  " 

Jason  answered  only  by  drawing  his  sword  and  making  a  step 
forward. 

"  Stay,  foolish  youth,"  said  Medea,  grasping  his  arm.  "  Do  not 
you  see  you  are  lost,  without  me  as  your  good  angel  ?  In  this  gold 
box  I  have  a  magic  potion,  which  will  do  the  dragon's  business  far 
more  effectually  than  your  sword." 

The  dragon  had  probably  heard  the  voices  ;  for,  swift  as  light 
ning,  his  black  head  and  forked  tongue  came  hissing  among  the 
trees  again,  darting  full  forty  feet  at  a  stretch.  As  it  approached, 
Medea  tossed  the  contents  of  the  gold  box  right  down  the  monster's 
wide  open  throat.  Immediately,  with  an  outrageous  hiss  and  a  tre 
mendous  wriggle,  —  flinging  his  tail  up  to  the  tip-top  of  the  tallest 
tree,  and  shattering  all  its  branches  as  it  crashed  heavily  down 
again,  —  the  dragon  fell  at  full  length  upon  the  ground,  and  lay 
quite  motionless. 

"  It  is  only  a  sleeping  potion,"  said  the  enchantress  to  Prince 
Jason.  "  One  always  finds  a  use  for  these  mischievous  creatures, 
sooner  or  later ;  so  I  did  not  wish  to  kill  him  outrigL1^  Quick  ! 
Snatch  the  prize,  and  let  us  begone.  You  have  won  the  Golden 
Fleece." 


190  THE   GOLDEN  FLEECE. 

Jason  caught  the  fleece  from  the  tree,  and  hurried  through  the 
grove,  the  deep  shadows  of  which  were  illuminated  as  he  passed  by 
the  golden  glory  of  the  precious  object  that  he  bore  along.  A  lit 
tle  way  before  him,  he  beheld  the  old  woman  whom  he  had  helped 
over  the  stream,  with  her  peacock  beside  her.  She  clapped  her 
hands  for  joy,  and  beckoning  him  to  make  haste,  disappeared  among 
the  duskiness  of  the  trees.  Espying  the  two  winged  sons  of  the 
North  Wind  (who  were  disporting  themselves  in  the  moonlight,  a 
few  hundred  feet  aloft),  Jason  bade  them  tell  the  rest  of  the  Argo 
nauts  to  embark  as  speedily  as  possible.  But  Lynceus,  with  his 
sharp  eyes,  had  already  caught  a  glimpse  of  him,  bringing  the  Gol 
den  Fleece,  although  several  stone-walls,  a  hill,  and  the  black  shad 
ows  of  the  grove  of  Mars  intervened  between.  By  his  advice,  the 
heroes  had  seated  themselves  on  the  benches  of  the  galley,  with 
their  oars  held  perpendicularly,  ready  to  let  fall  into  the  water. 

As  Jason  drew  near,  he  heard  the  Talking  Image  calling  to  him 
with  more  than  ordinary  eagerness,  in  its  grave,  sweet  voice  :  — 

"  Make  haste,  Prince  Jason  !     For  your  life,  make  haste  !  " 

With  one  bound  he  leaped  aboard.  At  sight  of  the  glorious 
radiance  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  the  nine-and-forty  heroes  gave  a 
mighty  shout,  and  Orpheus,  striking  his  harp,  sang  a  song  of  tri 
umph,  to  the  cadence  of  which  the  galley  flew  over  the  water, 
homeward  bound,  as  if  careering  along  with  wings ! 


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